Not Afraid
by baneling
Summary: A/U. College can be one of the toughest times in someones life. Can a new friendship make things easier? Finchel. slight Quick.
1. Not Afraid

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, Finn or Rachel. **

**Summary: A/U. College can be one of the toughest times in someones life. Can a new friendship make things easier? Finchel. slight Quick.**

**Rating: T for now. _May _go up at a later point in time.**

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**Chapter One: Not Afraid**

_I'm not afraid (I'm not afraid)_  
_ To take a stand (to take a stand)_  
_ Everybody (everybody)_  
_ Come take my hand (come take my hand)_  
_ We'll walk this road together, through the storm_  
_ Whatever weather, cold or warm_  
_ Just lettin you know that, you're not alone_  
_ Holla if you feel like you've been down the same road (same road)_

His feet hit the wet pavement as he ran along the road that circled the campus, it had rained the night before and the ground was still wet and the air still damp. The brisk October air causing his face to red as he pulled his hood up a bit to get more coverage. The ear buds nestled snugly in his ear as the music poured out. Eminem's_ Not Afraid. _Usually not something he'd normally listen to, but there was something about this song that got his heart beating. He closed his eyes for a moment as he took a deep breath, he could run this road with his eyes closed. He had started running every morning at the same time, rain or shine, snow or ice. He knew he was crazy, especially given how many times he wiped out on the ice, but he always just got himself up and just kept going. It was only three years ago that he thought his life would have completely gone a different way. Star quarterback at his high school, college scouts were interested, his road was paved. Then in one day it all changed, what he had dreamed of came shattering down. His knee was done, and with it any chance of a college football career. No one wanted to give a scholarship to someone who was old news, someone who would never be able to play like had once had. Three surgeries and months of recovery gave him the ability to start running again, but it didn't matter, he had to find a new path, a new dream.

The Conservatory of Music at SUNY Purchase. He had found the school catalog on the kitchen table, it was one of the schools his step-brother was applying to, and after looking into it he decided it was where he wanted to go. Especially as he read up on the percussion program. He was still on the crutches, still not sure what he was going to do with his future at this time. He hadn't even gone to his parents yet, but then, it was like he just knew. He recruited his step-brother to help him apply and set up the audition tape. And for the first time in a long time he was actually excited. He practiced day and night, he wanted to master everything he needed. He had sworn his step-brother to secrecy until he was ready to approach their parents.

His mother and step-father had been shocked when he came to them saying he wanted to study music. It wasn't that he wasn't musically inclined, quite the opposite really. He had been playing the drums since childhood and he was actually pretty good, of course he never wanted to toot his own horn or anything. It was just, he spent his whole life wanting to play football and he wasn't even going to try? He wasn't going to live on false hope. His step-father suggested him trying to go play for a junior college team. No one but him and the doctors seemed to understand that it was not going to be the same, he would never be who he was and well he didn't want to keep trying. He wanted a fresh start, he wanted to be able to follow a new path without hating the fact he would never be up to par as his former self. There was no way they didn't notice the disappointment on his face when it seemed like they weren't going to support him in this decision. They asked why music? That was his step-brothers thing along with acting, but couldn't it be his thing? His mother stared at him for a long time after the questions ended, a smile appearing on his face she said she'd support his decision and would even fly with him to New York when he would have to audition. He remembered hugging both of them tightly, telling them thank you, even though he didn't really have anything to be exactly be thankful for yet. This was just a step, a step down a long road that he was going to have to face, but with their support he knew he'd be able to do it.

He opened his eyes as he heard a car driving by, sparking his interest due to the fact he rarely ever saw cars this early on a Saturday when he ran. He let his eyes follow them as they pulled into the same parking lot his car was in. For a brief moment he wondered if it was a visitor, which sucked because he wondered if he they knew they were going to get a ticket. The school had annoyingly strict rules when it came to non-students parking in the student lots when the semesters were in session. As he got closer, slowly moving off the road as he headed to the path to bring him to his on-premise apartment, he noticed the car was being unloaded. Why would someone be unloading stuff now? It was already October, and from the looks of it this person was moving in. He shrugged his shoulders as he headed up the pathway that brought him through the front of the apartments before coming to a halt. He bent over and placed his hands on his knees as he tried to catch is breath. His knee bothered him most days, but not enough to cause him to stop what he was doing.

As he moved to stand fully, his eyes fell upon a girl holding a comforter and sheets, as well as a huge bag draped over her shoulder. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrow as he approached slowly, she was walking towards the same stairwell he lived by. Who was this girl? He shrugged his shoulders before watching her walk up the stairs to one of the apartments upstairs as he headed into his own. Once inside he made a pit stop to the fridge to grab a bottle of water before turning towards the island in the kitchen. He put down the bottle as he pushed his hood off of his head and removed the ear buds from his ears and placed his iPod on the counter. His attention quickly turned to the bathroom as he heard a toilet flushing, obviously one of his three roommates were up. Having three roommates wasn't always the _easiest_ thing, but then again it wasn't that bad. This year he was in Alumni Village, which was one of the three apartment complexes on school grounds. It was a little bit more money, but it was newer and well he had his own room so in the end it was worth it.

"Do you _ever _sleep in, Hudson?" A yawning voice asked as the bathroom door opened. Noah Puckerman, or as he liked to be called, Puck. They had met freshman year, having been placed in three of the same classes that fall semester. Where his area of study was percussion, Puck's was classical guitar. "I mean seriously, Finn. We've been friends for what, two years now and you are up way too early."

Finn let a chuckle escape his lips as he shook his head, "Honestly, this whole waking up early thing really didn't start till I came here." And it was the truth, most of the time, especially in high school he liked to sleep in as long as possible. Now, well, he just felt like when he slept in he was missing out on something. "Hey, I think some chick is moving in upstairs." Puck moved to the fridge and pulled out the carton of orange juice and started to drink it straight from the carton, causing Finn to roll his eyes, "I fucking drink that shit too, dickhead."

"Yeah, yeah-," he put it back into the fridge and kicked the door shut before releasing another yawn and looking to Finn. "Yeah, remember that girl Cassey that moved in upstairs?"

"What about her?"

"Apparently she already dropped out," Puck said with a shrug of his shoulders, "Quinn was telling me last night when we were making out." He reached up to scratch his stomach, since he clearly did not bother to put on a shirt before going to the bathroom, "Anyway, I guess some girl had been waiting to get into the apartments so she is their new roommate or some shit like that."

Finn just nodded, it pretty much explained why the girl was moving stuff in, "Ahh.. okay."

"Why? Did you see her or something?"

"Outside," he pulled off his hoodie, his shirt sliding up slowly. "I was confused."

"Is she hot?" Puck walked towards the door and looked through the peephole hoping to see something, or rather _someone. _"Crap, I can't see shit... WAIT WAIT! I see a leg! There's a leg!" He tried to move a little to the side to get a better angle, "Dude, I'm getting some skirt action! I love living under the staircase."

"You're a pervert," Finn rolled his eyes as he opened up his water to take another sip, "I'm going to probably hop in the shower, you working today?"

"What?" he turned towards Finn ad rolled his eyes, "Look who is talking, I clearly remember you begging that chick at the party a couple weeks ago to show you her boobs." As the words left Puck's mouth Finn couldn't help but wince, that _definitely _was not one of his shining moments. Sure, he clearly was a guy and the chick seemed like she had a nice rack, but he definitely shouldn't have offered to pay her 50 bucks to see them. Did he even have 50 bucks? He reached up to touch his cheek, remembering how fucking hard that girl smacked him over that. "I still don't know why she didn't take the money, I mean you fucking offered her fifty bucks to see those fucking knockers. I would have taken it if someone asked to see my dick."

He decided not to even bother to respond to Puck anymore, or ask if he was working again since it clearly went in one ear and out the other. He headed into his room and kicked off his sneakers before pulling open his closet, which was a fucking wreck and pulled down his towel. He wanted to try to get in a shower before Mike and their other roommate tried to get in there. God, he hated that fucking Jacob kid, he was so fucking creepy and he really wished he would leave. Rolling his eyes he headed back out into the apartment, noticing almost immediately that Puck had retreated to his bedroom. As he slowly approached the bathroom he could see the door closest to it starting to open, Jacob's door. Finn darted passed it and slipped into the bathroom slamming the door shut.

* * *

When she got the phone call that there was an opening in Alumni Village, she almost jumped for joy. Okay, she actually _did _jump for joy. There had apparently been some mix up and for the first two months she had to be forced to live in this one really small room that was just not up to par in her eyes what so ever. Of course, she wasn't going to complain, even though part of her _really _wanted to. She had hoped that she was going to be able to be in one of the apartments with Mercedes and Tina, but instead she was going to be roommates with three girls that she had no idea who they were. It was funny how that worked, you go to school with people for two years of your life, but unlike high school, in college it's rare to know _that _many people. Anyway, she was hoping this wouldn't end up being too bad. They had told her she could move in on Saturday, since the girls room she was taking over had to be out by Friday.

She knew it was pretty early to start moving in, and more than likely some or all her roommates were probably still asleep. Slipping the key into the lock, she slipped into the apartment, a huge smile appearing on her face. She was so looking forward to being able to _not _have to eat down at the main dining hall or the hub everyday. Sure, some days she loved doing that, but she was a vegetarian and _well, _she missed cooking for herself. Finding her room, she unlocked the door and slipped inside. Sighing contently as she began to unload her stuff and set up her room. She was done within an hour, a huge smile on her face as she took a step back to look over what she had just put together. She gave herself a pat on the back before turning around to see someone walking by, "hello!"

The greeting startled the blonde as she came to a halt and turned toward the room that had been empty last night. There in front of her stood a girl around her height with brown hair, "Uh hi?"

She stepped out of the room and held out her hand, "I'm Rachel Berry, I'm guessing you're one of my roommates?"

With a nod the blonde responded as she shook the girls hand, "I'm Quinn Fabray." She really wasn't sure _what _else to say? Why the hell was this girl so bubbly? And damn was her grip way too strong for this early in the morning. "I hope you don't mind, I was going to head to the bathroom... uh welcome around." Quinn turned on her heel and rolled her eyes as the girl made a comment about getting to know each other later, like _that _was actually going to happen.

After she headed into the bathroom she closed the door and sighed, "What time is it?" she whispered to herself, did she sleep way too late or something? If not, why the hell was the new girl moving in this early in the morning? God, she just wanted to go back to bed. Truthfully, when Quinn heard they were getting another roommate she groaned. She didn't even bother talking to the other two anyway, they did their own things and Quinn had no care in the world about getting to them, or getting to know this Rachel Berry girl.

With Rachel having everything in her room unpacked she headed into the kitchen to survey everything. Opening the fridge she saw it was pretty bare and what there _was _in the fridge all had labels for each roommate. She made a mental note to get sticky notes and a black marker or something so she would be able to label her own stuff once she bought it. Figuring she didn't have anything to do today, having took the day off to move in she'd head down to the grocery store and buy some stuff. As she closed the fridge door she noticed Quinn emerging from the bathroom, a huge smile appearing on her face as she turned to her, "Hi Quinn, I was about to go and get some groceries and wanted to know if you either wanted to come along with me or even needed me to pick anything up for you?"

Quinn stopped dead in her tracks and unenthusiastically stared at this girl, "No."

Rachel nervously bit on her bottom lip and nodded, "Okay then, I'll just see you later." She grabbed her purse off of the counter and gave Quinn a little wave and smile before heading out of the apartment and down the stairs. Once her foot hit the pavement she turned around when she heard something and smiled as she saw someone coming out of their apartment with a bag of garbage in their hand. He was a very tall guy, she'd say well over 6 feet and when he spotted her he gave her a kind of lopsided grin. She lifted her hand and gave him a little wave before turning back and headed down to the parking lot.

* * *

"She was _way_ too energetic for that fucking early in the morning!" Quinn moaned as she leaned her head back against the couch in Puck and Finn's apartment. "Seriously, like I wake up and she's already undone packing and asking me to go food shopping with her? And god, not to mention she dresses like a preschooler." Quinn and Puck were _'dating', _it wasn't officially or anything apparently but Finn just wished they'd put a label on it already. Not that he was all for them dating, he just figured it was time to, especially given the fact she was _always _fucking over.

"I saw her through the peephole," Puck admitted but immediately regretted it when he saw the look on Quinn's face. He quickly cleared his throat and lied, "I thought someone was at the door. Finn saw her though I think, right Finn?"

He was in the kitchen area making a sandwich when he realized he had just been pulled into a conversation, "What?"

"You saw that new girl moving in upstairs or something..."

Finn nodded, "Yeah, when I was out for my morning run, which really wasn't _that _early," he made sure to muttered the last part under his breath, because honestly he hated when Quinn glared at him. "I saw her when I took out the garbage as well, she didn't seem bad."

"That's because you didn't have to hear her talk," Quinn groaned again, god was she going to just shut up? Finn wondered as he took the first bite of his sandwich. "Oh god, and when she got back from buying the groceries, all she did was yap yap yap, asking me about what classes I take and my major and all this stuff. I honestly wanted to strangle her. I wish that Cassey girl didn't move."

"Me either," yet again as soon as the words left Puck's mouth he realized he was going to get it. Finn tried not to laugh but how could he not, he actually had seen Puck making out with the very girl they were discussing and wondered if Quinn knew about it. Then again, it really wasn't his place to start anything.

"Weren't you just complaining that you're other two roommates barely spoke a word to you?" Finn asked with a raise eyebrow as he plopped down on the kitchen table.

Quinn turned her attention towards Finn, "Well this girl talks way too much, I can't win."

"Would you stop compla-," Finn was cut off at the sound of someone knocking at the front door, "I'll get it." He pushed himself to his feet and headed over to answer it. What he didn't expect was for the girl that had just been the topic of discussion to be standing at the door. He lowered his face to her face, she looked nervous for some reason. "Uh hi.."

"Hi," Rachel nervously chewed on her lip as she looked up at the tall boy she had seen taking out garbage earlier that day, "I'm sorry for just randomly knocking on your door." She held up a cell phone, "Quinn left her cell phone on the kitchen counter and it keeps ringing and one of the roommates named- Jessica was about ready to smash it and said Quinn was probably down here sucking her-," she slowly started to blush, which only caused Finn to smile. "That she was down here with some guy named Puck so I figured I'd bring her phone down before she didn't have one anymore."

"Oh," he said before realizing he probably should say more, "Yeah- come in, Quinn's in the living room." Finn opened the door further and motioned for her to come in. He turned to look at Quinn and Puck who were starting to stand up, both obviously confused about what was going on. "Quinn, Rachel's here to see you."

Quinn rolled her eyes, which Finn figured if he could see Rachel probably could as well, "Did you need something?"

"Jessica was trying to break your phone cause it wouldn't stop ringing and she said you were down here so I figured I'd bring it down, in case it was important or something," Rachel's voice was low and sweet, was this really the same girl Quinn had been complaining about just minutes before about being too bubbly?

"Oh," Quinn nodded and walked over to take her phone from Rachel, "Thank you."

"Jessica is um," Rachel giggled softly, "Quite a character."

"You mean a ragging bitch? God I can't stand her, she has to start shit over _everything _all the time," Quinn actually started to feel bad about being so mean about Rachel. Then again, she did dress like a preschooler and was too bubbly, at least she had been earlier.

Quinn opened her mouth to say something but was cut off, "Hey, I'm Noah Puckerman, but you can call me Puck," he smirked cockily as he draped his arm over Quinn's shoulder.

"Nice to meet you, Noah," she completely ignored that he asked for her to call him Puck, she actually very much preferred using Noah. She turned slightly to glance back at Finn before looking back at Quinn and Puck.

"That's my roommate Finn Hudson, Finn this is Quinn's roommate-," Puck paused not actually knowing her full name, "Rachel-,"

"Rachel Berry," she turned towards Finn and went over to shake his hand, "Are you by any chance related to Kurt Hummel?" she asked curiously, a sweet smile on her face.

Finn nodded, "yeah, Kurt's my step brother, do you know him?"

"Yes," she nodded, "We have a lot of classes together," Although Rachel wouldn't _exactly _call Kurt a close close friend, she still considered him a friend on some level. "He's mentioned your name before, it's nice to finally put a face to the name."

He tried to think if Kurt had ever mentioned a girl named Rachel, but then again his step-brother didn't really talk about girls at all, "You too... If you're in classes with Kurt I'm guessing you're a theater major?"

"Yep!" she replied happily, "If you've ever been to any of the plays in the last two years you've probably seen me. I'm planning on being a big star one day."

Finn glanced over Rachel's head to see Quinn and Puck both rolling their eyes. "Oh?" He looked back down at her, "That's pretty cool, I may have actually seen you..." he said lying, he usually avoided the plays and well the two he had worked music on were like the seniors that graduated last year and she was definitely not among them. For some reason, Finn felt like he would remember if he had ever seen her before.

"Well," Rachel began as she looked at all three of the faces, "I'm sorry for interrupting, it was a pleasure to meet you, Noah," she smiled at him before turning back to Finn, "As well as you, Finn. I will have to tell Kurt I met you," she started heading towards the door before looking to Quinn, "I'll see you later." She waved goodbye and let herself out of the apartment.

Finn really didn't know how long he stood there staring at the door, but he felt like it was a while. He shook his head when he heard Puck laughing, "Dude, she really _does _dress like a preschooler, but damn that skirt was _short."_

Quinn rolled her eyes, "God, why do I even bother with you sometimes?" she turned and went back to sit on the couch.

"Because I'm fucking hot," he said with a laugh as he went to sit down next to her.

Finn stood there for quite some time, just well standing. There was something about that girl he couldn't put his finger on, and although she did in fact _kinda _dress like a preschooler, he had to admit she was quite pretty. He chuckled at that and headed into his room, when was the last time Finn Hudson _ever _thought a girl was pretty? Probably in grade school. He completely forgot about his sandwich as he settled at his desk and pulled out his music theory homework. Part of him kind of hoped that Quinn actually ended up getting to know her roommate cause he'd be down for seeing her around more. Mostly for the fact he really didn't want to witness Puck and Quinn sucking face on the living room couch anymore.

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**A/N: So this idea randomly came to me last night when this song came on in my friends car last night when i was a little on the drunk side. I have a few ideas where it could go, but I would love to get some reviews if you'd like to see me continue with this story!**


	2. The Artist In The Ambulance

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, Finn or Rachel. **

**Summary: A/U. College can be one of the toughest times in someones life. Can a new friendship make things easier? Finchel. slight Quick.**

**Rating: T for now. _May _go up at a later point in time.**

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**Chapter Two: The Artist In The Ambulance  
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_Late night, brakes lock, hear the tires squeal_  
_Red light, can't stop so I spin the wheel_  
_My world goes black before I feel an angel lift me up_  
_And I open bloodshot eyes into fluorescent white_  
_They flip the siren, hit the lights, close the doors and I am gone_

Despite going to the same school they didn't see each other that often. Occasionally they would run into one another on the way to class, or when either of them happened to be grabbing some food at The Hub or something (although that was a rare occurrence). They weren't even that close if you thought about it. Before their lives threw them together it was pretty safe to say they definitely didn't run in the same circle. He wasn't clueless though (well sometimes he was), he had realized the other boy had had a certain look in is eyes whenever they saw each other back then. It was a look he had noticed before from other girls, usually when he had won a game and they wanted to be on his arm at a party or something like that. However, for them, that looked eventually seemed to fade when they became step-siblings. It had been awkward at first, especially for him, his teammates constantly ridiculing him over the fact he was now having to live and associate with the gay kid. However, as time when on they formed some sort of bond, a bond that which wasn't exactly perfect but anything was better than nothing. Time would only tell if it would ever become stronger, and if they would ever feel like true brothers.

To make their parents happy, they would attempt to get together at least once a month for some type of meal, usually lunch or dinner, sometimes even coffee at the Starbucks on school grounds. Today happened to be one of those days, one of the days they finally seemed to fit one another in their schedules. Since neither wanted to spend what little money they had it seemed like the most logical idea to stay on school grounds and use their meal cards. Thankfully they had picked to go when it wasn't too hectic, so being able to find a table hadn't been a huge issue. Like normal, Kurt was the one doing all the talking while Finn did all the eating. This was really how it had always been, Finn honestly never knew what the hell to talk about to Kurt half the time. If he thought about it long and hard, the only really deep conversation the two ever shared concerned Finn wanting to attend SUNY Purchase. Otherwise, it was just a lack of communication from the bigger boy, mostly dude to the fact Finn had absolutely no idea what his step-brother was talking about.

Kurt pretty much knew he was only talking to hear himself speak when he was with Finn, but he continued to talk anyway. Pausing for a moment he couldn't help but roll his eyes at Finn scarfing down his food like it was the last meal he would ever have. He picked aimlessly at his turkey wrap before speaking, "So I heard you met little miss diva."

Finn stopped mid-chew and focused his attention on Kurt, he had no idea who little miss diva was, "huh?"

"Rachel Berry," Kurt said in a tone of voice that made it seem like Finn was supposed to know exactly who he was talking about. Of course, after realizing by the look on Finn's face he was clueless Kurt continued to speak, "She's that Quinn Fabray girl's new roommate."

The girl who dressed like a preschooler! Why did he forget his name? Then again, why should he remember her? "Oh yeah, I only met her for a second." Truth be told Finn was pretty sure he hadn't seen her again since the day she moved in, "She seemed pretty chill."

Kurt let out a noise that closely resembled a snort, "You mean _absolutely_ crazy." This only caused Finn to look at him utterly confused, letting out a sigh he continued to speak once again, "Well not literally, possibly... She's just _extremely _hyper and has the ability to be a tad bit annoying. Although, I must say she is quite brilliant on the stage and that voice, I've been known to shed a tear when she's belted out one of her ballads."

"Oh," that was the only thing Finn could think of to say for quite awhile. After taking a sip of his soda he apparently gathered the ability to speak, "Isn't she your friend?"

This question caused Kurt to roll his eyes, "I would _exactly _say that. She's _somewhat _my friend."

"Uh, okay," Finn took another sip of his soda before reaching for his napkin and wiping his face. He tried to have some type of manners every so often, plus he figured Kurt would have eventually told him he looked a mess. He let his eyes wander around the room, trying to see if anything worthwhile caught his attention. Just as he was about to look back to Kurt he spotted her, Kurt's _somewhat _friend. She was with two girls, one he had seen before with his stepbrother, Mer- something. Finn honestly wasn't the best at remembering names.

"Kurt!" The girl Finn had recognized called out as she motioned for Rachel and the other girl to follow. Finn inwardly groaned at them approaching, he knew very well they were going to sit down with them since Kurt wasn't going to turn them away. He was already having trying to make conversation with Kurt, now he would have to attempt it with three girls he didn't know.

"Mercedes," Kurt smiled before glancing over to the other two, "Tina. Rachel. I think you all remember my step-brother Finn."

The girls all gave Finn a little nod as they joined him and Kurt at the table. Finn attempted to move his car in as far as he could giving Rachel room to squeeze passed him to sit on the inside. He realized after the fact he probably should have just moved out and given her his seat. Just as he was able to take another bite of his food he heard Rachel clear her throat causing him to look at her, "So Kurt said you're a music major."

Finn glanced at Kurt for a moment, however he was in the middle of a heated discussion with the other two girls." Oh yeah... I am," he answered as he turned his attention back to her. He couldn't help but smirk when he saw how much her eyes lit up, "Percussion to be exact."

"That's amazing," she said smiling brightly, "I was never any good at playing an instrument, I am a great singer though."

Finn raised his eyebrow at the fact the girl referred to herself as great. Talk about being modest... wait, was that the right word? He couldn't remember for anything. It took him a moment to realize she was staring at him, probably because he had yet to say anything, "Uh- that's pretty awesome."

Finn wouldn't have believed that her smile could grow any bigger, but in that exact moment that's exactly what it did, "I agree."

Figuring he'd change the topic or something he bit his bottom lip for a moment as he thought about what to ask. "Oh, so do you enjoy your new living arrangements?" Finn asked, actually pretty curious for some reason.

It wasn't hard to notice her smile falter as she just shrugged her shoulders, "I guess.. Jessica and Michelle don't really talk to me and well-," she slowly began to fumble with her hands before finally saying more, "I don't think Quinn likes me very much."

He couldn't help but feel bad, Quinn was hard, he actually wasn't her biggest fan. The reasoning was one he really didn't like to talk about, he had actually started to like her in freshman year, and she had been flirting with him nonstop, but then one night he saw her making out with Puck and well he felt pretty dumb over the whole thing. "That's not true, Quinn's just-," Finn tried to think of a word to describe her, "She's just difficult?"

Rachel just shrugged her shoulders again, "I guess? I don't know, she really doesn't seem to want to get to know me."

He gave her a smile reassuring smile, "Don't let it get to you...," he looked towards Kurt for a moment before pulling his cellphone out of his pocket, "Yeah, I got class so I should go-," He stood up and gathered his grab, "Kurt, girls..." he looked at Rachel and smiled, "nice to see you again Rachel." Finn grabbed his bag and threw it over his shoulder before heading over to the garbage and outside to get to his class in time.

* * *

After Lunch Rachel parted ways with Mercedes, Tina, and Kurt and figured she'd head back to the apartment and do some laundry. As she walked the school grounds she couldn't help but tighten her coat around her as the wind chilled her to the bone. It was times like this she wondered why she didn't invest in more pants. Living in New York for what would be the third winter she hadn't really bothered to change her attire much, sure she had _some _pants but not enough for the cold weather. And the fact she had to walk to her classes didn't exactly help her case. As she headed inside the apartment she was rather relieved to see no one was around. Changing out of her clothes she threw on a pair of yoga pants and a pullover sweatshirt as she began to gather up her clothes to put in the wash. She was definitely grateful that these set up apartments were the ones with their own washer and dryers. No longer would she have to carry around her dirty clothes down to another building.

Once the washer was set and running Rachel settled down on the couch in the living room to watch one of her favorite movies, Funny Girl. Although she was good at hiding it, she had been definitely feeling pretty down lately. She had been so excited about being able to move into the campus apartments and have three rooms, but now she wasn't so sure it was a good idea. Jessica and Michelle barely spoke to each other or her and Quinn, and when they did they were extremely bitchy. And even though Finn had said she didn't, well Rachel still believe Quinn didn't like her very much. Finn Hudson. There was something very intriguing about that boy, and well Rachel couldn't help but find him absolutely adorable.

She had been so lost in her own thoughts she almost didn't hear the front door open. That was until she heard the yelling that came along with the two people that were entertaining the apartment. "What the hell did I do?" Puck demanded as he allowed the door to slam shut behind him.

"Oh.. I don't know," Quinn said sarcastically as she turned on her heel so her back was facing the living room, "Maybe the fact you called my preschool dressing roommate sneaky hot?" Clearly neither of them had spotted Rachel, and she found herself sinking down further on the couch, thankful that the back of the couch was facing where they were standing.

"I was- uhh," Puck was obviously having trouble thinking of what to say, he had gotten himself in trouble _again,_ "It's not like I'm going to hit on her or anything like that."

Rachel honestly was praying to become invisible in that moment. She wondered if she should let them know she was there and could hear everything they were saying, it wasn't like she was dumb or anything she knew they were talking about _her. _And the fact that Quinn's bedroom door was lined up with the couch, they would end up seeing her and then that just wouldn't end up turning out too well. Deciding to do the first thing that came to her mind, Rachel dropped to the floor and began to crawl towards her bedroom, which of course just her luck was the furthest bedroom on the other side of the apartment right by the bathroom. Thankfully the kitchen's island was long and she was able to get behind it rather quickly from the couch. She almost would have gone by without being detected if Puck hadn't let out a sigh and looked to the side. He raised his eyebrow as he noticed her on all floors trying to get to her room. Motioning with his hand for her to move quickly he tried to keep Quinn's attention on him.

Once Rachel was out of sigh Puck looked at Quinn and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Listen, babe, you walked in at the wrong point of the conversation. Mike was simply asking me if your new roommate was hot and well I just spoke the truth, but you gotta know no one can_ ever _compare to you in my eyes."

"I _guess_ I was overreacting," Quinn admitted with a sigh, she hated to admit such things but she just couldn't stay mad at Puck no matter how hard she tried. "I mean... you wouldn't cheat on me with my own roommate, especially one with such bad style."

Puck's eyes widened for a moment as he gulped, he quickly plastered a smile on his face, "Of course not... I was just seeing maybe if Mike liked her or something like that," he lied through his teeth. "Plus, _maybe _you should try to be friends with her? I mean, you've been battling with Michelle and Jessica since you guys moved in this summer, wouldn't it be nice to have someone in your corner?"

Quinn's eyebrows narrowed as she stared at her- well whatever Puck was, did he actually just ask her to try to befriend her new roommate? Puck would be the last person she would _ever _expect to say something like that, "I uh-, I feel like you are turning into Finn sometimes... and that's not a good thing." Finn was nice and all, and sure she used to have a thing for him, but he was kind of dumb in some ways and well Puck was just way hotter. Letting out another sigh she smiled slightly, "I guess I _could _try to be nicer to her."

"That's all I'm saying, baby," he smirked, "Plus, maybe she ends up being a cool girl."

Rachel sighed as she laid in her bed and heard everyone that was being said. She didn't want to continue to ease drop once she had made it into her room, but it was pretty hard since if her door randomly closed by it's self it probably would have ended up being suspicious. Part of her wondered if Puck truly meant what he was saying, but then again he could have been just saying it because he realized she was in the apartment. She had no idea what kind of person he was, hell she didn't even know what type of person Quinn was. She really didn't want to live in such awkward settings for the remainder of the school year if they didn't get better. Rolling over in her bed she buried her head in her pillow and took a deep breath.

* * *

Not wanting to rush back to his apartment once he was done with the remaining classes of the day, Finn headed over to the campus post office to check his box to see if anything was in. Pulling out his mail, he glanced to see he had gotten Netflix, a credit card bill, and his bank statement. Letting out a loud sigh he opened the statement and groaned, he _really _needed to get a job. The money he had made over the summer was slowly disappearing more and more everyday, and well he knew he wasn't going to make it to Christmas with no income. Sure, his mom and Burt always checked and offered to help out, but Finn didn't want to rely on them. He knew he could get a job at Cheesecake Factory again if he wanted, they had told him it would be waiting for him once he came back from summer break, but honestly? That's not what he wanted to do. And he did not want to work at the mall again, that was just something he didn't even want to get into. However, what did that leave? Not much if he thought about it? With a loud sigh he shoved his mail into his bag and slowly started heading back towards his apartment.

As always, Finn's stomach started to grumble and having already passed The Hub he figured he'd just find something to eat back at his place. And well, if he didn't have anything he'd just steal something of Puck's or Mike's. He made sure to never touch the other guys stuff since well he didn't really seem to associate with him or the other two guys. Finn just figured you couldn't have all perfect roommates and well the guy wasn't a problem starter so they just avoided each other. He steps started to slow down as he noticed someone sitting on the stairs by his apartment, as he got closer he realized who it was. Rachel Berry. He slowly approached, noticing she looked rather sad, "Hi- uh Rachel."

Rachel looked up from the script she had in her hand and smiled slightly, "Hi Finn."

"Umm," he nervously moved side to side on his feet, "Why are you out here? I mean like, it's kind of cold."

Rachel had fallen asleep not long after the Quinn and Puck conversation had taken place. When she finally did wake up, she had two surprises, she had forgotten about her clothes in the washer, and well Quinn and Puck had apparently decided to make up in a very loud way. "Quinn and," she paused trying to remember his name, "Noah are in her room."

"Oh," Finn nodded, it took him a moment to realize what she truly meant, "Oh! That sucks a lot, if you want you can hang out in our apartment till they come back, I know they can get pretty loud, I usually escape to like The Hub or something when they do that."

"You—You don't mind? I don't want to impose or anything like that, especially if you had plans or something," she started to ramble causing him to raise his eyebrow, "I mean I can totally want outside till their done."

"It's fine, come on," without even thinking about what he as doing he held his hand out for her to take.

She stared at his hand for a few seconds before closing the script and taking his hand as she stood up and allowed him to lead her into his apartment. It was obviously the same layout almost, just a little different from her own. "Are your roommates her?" she asked curiously, she actually didn't know who his roommates where besides Noah, and well she had only met Noah once.

"Uh," Finn slipped off his bag as he made his way over to the table to put his bag down on the chair. All four bedroom doors were closed, but from the looks of it he was thinking his roommates were either out or asleep, "I'm thinking no, but I could be wrong." Turning to look at her as she held her script to her chest and looked around, probably trying to figure out the differences between her place and theirs, "Do you want anything to drink or to eat?"

"I'm fine, thank you though," Rachel headed further into the apartment and put her stuff down on the table before taking a seat. She brought her legs up onto the chair with her as she rested her elbows on the table. Her arms swimming in her sleeves as she rested her chin on her hands. "So you're a junior?"

Finn was reaching into the fridge to pull out a bottle of water when he heard her question, "Yeah, you?" he glanced at her for only a minute before pulling out some mac and cheese Mike had made a couple nights back. Pulling the container out he pulled back the lid and sniffed it, it seemed okay.

"Junior as well, I'm just surprised I never saw you before- or noticed you before," she said softly.

"Well it's a big school," he said with a shrug as he put the contents into the microwave to heat up, "We could have been around each other and just never realized it."

"Maybe, although I don't think I could ever forget a face like yours," Rachel realized that probably sounded a tad bit odd and slowly began to chew on her lip as she noticed his eyebrow raise. "Anyway, do you like school."

He gave a shrug as he reached into the drawer and pulled out a clean fork, "It's not bad, I enjoy it and well the campus is pretty laid back so that makes it good. You?"

"I love it," she smiled brightly as she watched him, he really was adorable.

Once his food was heated he took it out and headed over to the table to sit with Rachel and began to eat. Noticing that she was sitting there just looking over at him he felt bad, "You sure you don't want something to eat? We have same ham and bread if you want to make a sandwich."

"It's alright really, plus I don't eat meat," she answered honestly with a small smile.

"Really? So you're a uhh-," he tried to think of the word, "something Veg-,"

"Vegetarian," she said with a nod, "yes."

"Isn't that hard? I mean like not eating meat and all that stuff?" Finn really didn't know what it was like, he just knew he wouldn't be able to give up meat for anything.

"Not really, I've been one for years so I guess I'm just used to it," she said shrugging her shoulders as she sat up straight and let her hands fall into her lap. "Thank you for inviting me in, it was kind of getting cold outside," she licked her lips softly, and Finn found himself staring at her as she did it, "I tried to go inside a couple times, but apparently they are going for a record and it was just really uncomfortable."

"No problem," he said smiling, "I've kind of gotten used to it but our one roommate has definitely banged his fist against the wall before. They don't get what it means to be quiet obviously," Finn said with a chuckle. "I'm actually kind of surprised Quinn allowed it to happen with you being home."

Rachel nervously chewed on her lip as she began to pick at the edge of the table, "See that's the thing.. Quinn didn't know I was there, only Noah. They kind of walked in arguing over well- over me and I escaped to my room without Quinn seeing me."

Finn had a puzzled look on his face, why the hell was Puck fighting with Quinn over Rachel, "Why were they fighting over me?"

Rachel shrugged slightly, "I guess Noah told someone I was sneaky hot," she looked like she felt awkward talking about this, "And Quinn overheard him. I crawled to my room since they hadn't seen me on the couch, but then Noah saw me." She frowned slightly before letting out a sigh, "he told her to give me a chance, but I feel like he only said that because he saw me, you know?"

"Oh," Finn really had no idea what to say to this girl, Puck more than likely was saying that because he had spotted her, but then again did he really ever know what was going on in his best friends head, "You never know, maybe things will end up working out?"

"I hope so," she said, a smile appearing on her face when she saw his own. Just as she opened her mouth to say something else the front door opened and in walked in one of Finn's roommate. Both Rachel and Finn turned their attention to the door, the only difference was Rachel's eyes widened, "Jesse?"

Jesse lifted his head at the sound of his voice, a smirk appearing on his face when he spotted Rachel Berry sitting at his kitchen table with- Finn Hudson. Odd, he didn't know they knew each other, and well he didn't think Rachel was dating anyone and Finn never said he was dating anyone. Then again, when did he and Finn speak much. "Hello Rachel," he gave her a little nod before looking over at Finn, "Finn."

"Jesse," Finn raised his eyebrow confused, apparently these two knew each other, "Um, you guys know each other?"

"Dance class, and we'll we've been in the plays together," Rachel said sounding extremely perky, as she turned her attention to Jesse, "I've been living upstairs for over a week and didn't know you lived downstairs!"

"Well now you do," he smirked as he shot her a wink, "Well, I need to get some work done, I'll see you soon Rachel." Jesse headed into his room and shut the door behind him.

Finn glanced between Jesse's door and Rachel and couldn't help but feel a little awkward, what the hell had just happened? Why the hell did Rachel just get extremely perky when Jesse came in? Rachel didn't know he lived there so he figured he could probably rule out them dating or something like that. "Um, so..." Finn cleared all his throat catching Rachel's attention, "Do you ant to watch a movie or something?" he didn't even realize what he was saying until the words left his mouth.

Rachel smiled brightly and nodded, "Sure!"

After Finn cleaned up his plate he settled down on the couch with Rachel and began to aimlessly flip through the channels until they found something. Oddly enough after a few minutes the two stopped on Clueless and began to watch it. Every so often he found himself glancing at her, her eyes fixated on the television. "Marky Mark? How old is this movie?"

"Ah, the days when Mark Walhberg was referred to as Marky Mark," Rachel said with a laugh.

The two chatted pretty much the whole movie, laughing over random things and Finn couldn't help but realize he was enjoying spending time with his new neighbor. Once the movie was over he found himself kind of down when she said she should probably head upstairs and get some sleep. He had debated asking her to stay longer, but figured there really wasn't _much _they could do, besides he probably should get a start on his homework and hit the hay as well. Rachel gave him a small hugs before heading out of the apartment, saying they should do it again sometime. As she climbed the stairs to her apartment, script in her hands, well she couldn't help but smile.

* * *

**A/N: So having Jesse being Finn's roommate was not originally my plan but I have this idea and I think I'm going to run with it. Thanks for everyone that reviewed the last chapter! I will definitely be inspired to get the third chapter out faster if I can get a bunch more on this one! xoxo. **


	3. What It Is To Burn

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, Finn or Rachel. **

**Summary: A/U. College can be one of the toughest times in someones life. Can a new friendship make things easier? Finchel. slight Quick.**

**Rating: T for now. _May _go up at a later point in time.**

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* * *

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**Chapter Three: What It Is To Burn  
**

_Today's on fire_  
_ The sky is bleeding above me, and I am blistered_  
_ I walk these lines of blasphemy, every day_  
_ And still:_  
_ Like a bad star, I'm falling faster down to her_  
_ She's the only one who knows, what it is to burn_

The clicking sound could probably be heard all the way from the bathroom, but he really didn't particularly care if it bothered anyone. Actually he didn't realize he was doing it, he was too busy being annoyed as he continued to search through Craig's List trying to find some type of job that might interest him. After 40 minutes it was pretty safe to say he wasn't having that much luck. While his right hand was basically glued to the mouse, his left continued to click the pen as he scrolled down. Nothing was popping out at him, and the things that seemed only _remotely _interesting, he clearly wasn't qualified for. He needed a _part _time job that wouldn't interfere with his school schedule, was that really asking too much? He was beginning to feel like it was. He knew he could probably get a job at the mall again, but man really it was _still _the last thing he wanted to do. Letting out a loud groan he dropped his pen and pushed himself backwards away from the desk and stood up. As much as knew that he would need to get a job rather soon, he really couldn't be bothered with it at that very moment.

His stomach had probably been growling for the last 20 minutes and he figured he should probably put some food in it. The thing was, he _really _wanted Taco Bell, like he had been craving it for the last two weeks. The last thing he should be doing is spending any money, especially given he needed it to last until he actually found a job. After a moment debate he decided to screw it and would just put the damn food on his credit card. He surprisingly had decent credit, and well was 10 bucks _really _going to fuck him over? Besides, with Taco Bell being in the mall he could just give in and see if any of the stores were hiring. Going over to his closet he grabbed the first zip up he could find and threw it on. He headed out of room, having grabbed them prior, he shoved his wallet into his back pocket, his phone into his front, and kept his keys handy for when he got to his car. He did a once over of his bedroom to make sure he got everything before shutting the light off and closing the door behind him.

As soon as he stepped outside he threw his head up and couldn't help but roll his eyes when he noticed Jesse standing at the bottom of the stairs talking or well more so flirting with Rachel as she leaned against the banister. The two of them had hung out a couple times since they watched Clueless, and well he had to admit that he was enjoying himself and enjoying her company. The only complaint he really had was Jesse seemed to be showing his face more often, and well for some damn reason it kind of bugged him.

"I don't know," Rachel giggled slightly to Jesse's question. She was about to continue with what she was saying when she noticed a hoodie figure walk by, one she immediately recognized, "Finn!" she called out trying to get his attention as she turned her body away from Jesse.

He hesitated for a moment, almost wanting to pretend he hadn't heard her, but then he decided to turn around and gave them a half-assed wave, "hey Rachel... Jesse."

"Finn," Jesse said extremely monotone as he glanced at him only for a moment before looking back to Rachel.

Rachel didn't bother to acknowledge Jesse at that moment, but instead turned her attention on Finn as he stood a few feet away, "What are you doing?"

Letting his gaze go between Rachel and Jesse he shrugged slightly, "I was gonna head over to the mall... I'll see you later," he quickly turned around before she had a chance to reply. However, Finn only got a couple feet before halting, "Hey- Rachel," he turned back around and once again pulled her attention from Jesse to him, "You want to tag along?"

her face lit up as she nodded, "Yeah!" Quickly turning to Jesse she gave him sympathetic smile, "I'll see you around, Jesse.." she headed down the remaining steps and gave him a little wave goodbye before going over to join Finn, "bye!"

Jesse just nodded and told the two to have a good time, however, Finn couldn't help but sense the sarcasm in his tone. Once out of sight, Finn looked over at Rachel and gave her a bit of a lopsided grin, "I hope I didn't pull you away from anything important."

"Not at all," she shook her head to prove her point as a smile appeared on her face, "Plus, I've been meaning to get to the mall to pick some things up." Ever since the first night they had hung out, Rachel couldn't help but jump at the opportunity to do it again anytime the offer came up. She was hoping they would be able to become close friends, because it was something she seriously lacked. Sure, she had her drama friends, but it was good to just have a solid friend she could trust. She just had to stop thinking Finn was cute and focus on getting to know him.

Smiling at Rachel, Finn led her down to his car and opened the passenger side door. He waited till she was in to close it and go around to his side. As he slid in he couldn't help but cringe at the mess he had left, "Sorry it's so messy." Finn definitely wasn't the tidiest guy, he reached down and grabbed two empty soda bottles by her feet before tossing them into his backseat where more empty bottles, papers, and sweatshirts all made themselves at home. "I haven't really had time to clean up after myself apparently."

"No worries," she smiled reassuringly at him as she buckled up and watched as he started the car and pulled out of his spot.

* * *

Quinn was standing in front of the bathroom mirror trying to do her hair when she heard a knock at the door. Realizing no one else was going to get it, or not even home for that matter, she let out a sigh and put down the straightener before heading over to the front door. Looking through the peephole she couldn't help but be confused by who she saw on the other end. Opening it just slightly she glanced at the person, confusion most likely on her features, "Can I help you?"

Having had his back to the door while waiting for it to be answer he turned toward the girl and smirked, "I'm Jesse St. James, I'm one of your boyfriends roommates."

Quinn couldn't help but roll her eyes, "I know who you are. Now, did you need something or just felt like introducing yourself?" For a moment Quinn wondered if something could have happened to Puck, but she highly doubted out of everyone that would have told her it be _this _guy. Plus he was smirking she it was clear she could cross out the worst.

"Yeah, I was wondering was back from going to the mall with Finn yet?" Sure, they left what, probably a half hour ago and Jesse obviously was roommates with Finn but he wanted to actually know.

Quinn couldn't help but raise her eyebrow, why was Finn hanging out with the preschooler... eh Rachel, "Is Finn _back _yet?" she figured it was a logical question.

"No," he answered with a shake of his head, "At least not back at the apartment."

"Well then, I guess that answers your question. Glad I could be of service, buh bye," without even giving him a chance to reply, she shut the door and headed back to the bathroom. After glancing in the mirror for a moment she went down to grab her straightener again when another knock came at the door. Muttering under her breath she made her way over to the door and threw it open yelling, "What?"

Puck's eyes widened at Quinn's outburst, causing him to take a couple steps back, "Uh..."

She let out a deep sigh and opened the door more, "Sorry, I thought you were Jesse again."

"Jesse? Like my _roommate _Jesse?" Puck was completely confused and a tad bit jealous over why the hell the roommate he knew the least would be going to his girls place, "Why the hell was he here?"

She motioned for him to come inside before she began to speak again, "he came to see if Rachel was back from hanging out with Finn yet," with a shrug of her shoulders she leaned against the kitchen island as she stared at Puck, "Finn and Rachel are hanging out? When did this start?"

All Puck could do was really shrug, although he didn't exactly like the tone of her voice, why the hell did she give a fuck? "I don't know, why does it matter?" He narrowed his eyes, "I thought you were going to give her a chance."

With a roll of her eyes she let out a exaggerated sigh, "I was just wondering!"

He quickly put his hands up in self-defense, "Sorry I asked... Anyway, I came up here to ask you wanted to go out tonight."

"Just us... or a group?" she asked curiously as she cocked her head to the side.

"A group of course," Puck answered like it was nothing as he walked passed her and took a seat at the kitchen table and threw his feet up on the table. If he had bothered to look at her for even a second, he would have clearly seen the disappointment in her eyes, "Mike and Matt are already in, I think Sam is as well.. I just gotta text Finn and see if he's down."

She rolled her eyes as she headed over to her room, sarcasm dripping from her voice as she spoke, "Oh great, me and five guys... That will be thrill-," Quinn paused for a moment as she stuck her head of her room and glanced at Puck, "Tell Finn to bring Rachel."

Puck's eyes widened, "Wait... _really?_"

"Yeah, I mean- I said I'd give her a chance. How bad can she be?"

* * *

He hadn't actually remember until they got to the food court that she didn't eat meat. He couldn't help but apologize profusely, but she just smiled and told him it was fine. They had trolled the mall for a few before heading to get food, Rachel picked up something at some chick store, he didn't really pay attention, all he knew it wasn't Victoria Secret or something that could be interesting for him. The two split up to get their own food and said they'd meet at a table, which Rachel was able to nab first. When he had finished paying for his food and started to walk towards the tables he noticed Rachel sitting alone picking at a salad she had bought from one of the places. Once she spotted him he couldn't help but notice how she light up, quickly waving him over to sit across from her.

"Taco Bell, huh?" she asked in a soft voice as she pushed around a tomato with her fork.

Unwrapping his food he gave a nod before taking his first bite and swallowing, "Have you ever had it?" Noticing the instant disgust in her face he couldn't help but chuckle, "I'll that that as a no. Not even before you were into not eating meat?"

Rachel shook her head, "My dads are more into TV dinners over fast food." A look of confusion came upon Finn's face, Rachel had a pretty good idea which part it was referring to so she decided to clarify, "I have two gay dads."

Truthfully, that had _not _been what Finn was expecting out of Rachel's mouth, so much that began to cough after slightly choking on his food. Rachel's eyes quickly widened and she began to ask him if he was okay, just by the tone of her voice she was beginning to freak out and worry. All Finn could do was nod as he began to sip his drink and soon enough the coughing fit had ended, "Wow okay, sorry about that... So two dads? That's something. Not a bad something of course, I mean my step-brother is gay and all that.. .Mad respect... I'm gonna shut up now." Oh god, he wanted to crawl into a hole and dad. Did he just say mad respect? Oh god, he didn't even want to know what she was thinking.

Rachel brought her hand up to her mouth since she just couldn't help but giggle. Finn was honestly so adorable, in more ways than just looks, she was learning this more and more every time they hung out. Once she was able to stop the giggling she smiled sweetly at him, "It's okay, I knew what you meant."

The two chatted frivolously as they continued to eat their food, Rachel giggling every so often at something Finn said. Once they were done and Finn had tossed out their garbage, the pair began to aimlessly wander around the mall once again. There was a silence among them, but not exactly a awkward one, which Finn was grateful for. He always had a hard time thinking of things to say. As they walked passed some of the stores he watched as Rachel's eyes fixated on certain store windows, obviously something in them sparking her interest.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Finn opened his mouth to say something. However, before he even had the chance to let a word form, his cellphone beep from within his pocket indicating he had a text message. Noticing Rachel turn to look at him, obviously having heard it too, he gave her a small smile as he pulled the phone out. He quickly opened his message and read it. Coming to a halt he furrowed his eyebrows as he started at the message in confusion.

Having noticed him stop, Rachel did as well, "is everything already?" she asked gently as she placed her hand on his arm.

Finn's eyes quickly shot from his phone to her hand on his arm, "huh?" he shook his head realizing what she was asking, "Oh yeah, totally." Shoving his phone back into his pocket he grinned slightly and began to walk again, her following in tow, "Do you have any plans tonight?"

Rachel quickly shook her head, "Nope, I mean besides listening to music or something like that," she closed her eyes and sighed, god that did not sound exciting at all. "Why?"

"Well," he cleared his throat, "I was wondering if you wanted to come out with some of us tonight."

It was Rachel's turn to stop this time, "Oh? That be cool- who's us though?"

He chuckled as he turned to look at her, "Me, Puck, Quinn, and a couple other dudes. _Actually _it was Quinn's idea that you could come."

She began to nervously chew on her bottom lip, she was still pretty awkward with her blonde roommate, and although she wanted to spend more time with Finn she wasn't sure, "I- I don't know."

He reached out and placed his hand on her arm, "Come on, it will be a lot of fun, I promise."

For some reason, in that moment she felt like she couldn't disappoint him. And well, maybe her and Quinn could finally get to know each other, "Sure.. Why not?" she smiled brightly at him, "Where are we going?"

"The Lazy Boy Saloon, we know some of the bartenders and well-, lets just say they won't ID us," he winked at her, but then realized she looked confused, "You know to drink cause we're under 21.. well.. yeah."

"Oh," she pursed her lips and just stared at him for a minute, "I don't really drink."

"That's fine, you don't have to drink, we usually just get food and _sometimes _a pitcher of beer. It's the easiest to get away with."

"Can't you get in a lot of trouble for them?"

He awkwardly began to rub the back of his neck, "Yeah? I think more so the bartender but yeah... It's gonna make you uncomfortable me and you can do something else if you'd like."

Her eyes lit up at the fact he was willing to do something else with her so she wasn't uncomfortable. Yet, Rachel knew that was wrong of her to make him not do something he wanted to do, "I want to go." She smiled softly when she noticed how at ease the comment made him. "I'm looking forward to it," she poked him playfully in the stomach before turning on her heel and motioned for him to start walking with her.

* * *

To say she was nervous was an understatement, because she was feeling like more than nervous, but was there even a way or a word to describe that? She never got nervous about going up on stage to perform in people, but going out with Finn and his friends was rather nerve-wrecking. It wasn't like she was his girlfriend or anything, just a new friend. And well, Quinn was her roommate, and she had met that Puck slash Noah dude, as well as the roommate Mike. Even though that was only for a brief moment. It was a memory that actually made Rachel giggle just slightly anytime she thought about to it. It was probably the second time her and Finn had hung out, it was raining and they were watching television and Mike came out of his room in his boxers dancing and hadn't realized Rachel was sitting there wide-eyed. As soon as he did he ran back into his room and slammed the door. Her and Finn probably laughed for a good 5 minutes over that one.

After getting back from the mall the two said their goodbyes and went to their respected apartments to get ready. When it came time for Rachel to get dressed, she actually was having a dilemma in what she should wear. Usually she didn't care, loving the way she dressed, even though people often liked to call her style rather close to a preschoolers. She'd never admit it, but her style had probably somewhat improved in college, but apparently not enough for some people. After going through everything she owned at least once, Rachel decided to slip on a yellow short sleeve shirt with a belted olive green jumper dress over it. For her legs she put on a pair of dark almost black stockings and a pair of black flats. Looking at herself in the mirror she thought it was cute, not too preschoolish. Letting out a sigh, she didn't know why she even cared about that comment. Shaking her head she applied a small amount of make-up and straightened her hair.

She was about to grab her jacket when she heard her phone vibrating. It was Finn wanting to know if she was ready to go yet. Letting him know she'd be down in a minute she slipped on her jacket and grabbed her purse before shutting her light off and closing the door behind her. When she stepped outside of the apartment she couldn't help but smile as she noticed Finn waiting at the bottom of the stairs for him. A blush arose on her face when he told her she looked cute as the two headed to his car to head over to the bar. When they got there, all her nervousness came back, mostly because Rachel was a girl that never had been in a bar before. Sure, it was a pub and they served food and stuff and apparently even had a kids menu, but still it was a little bit out of her element. Then again, wasn't that what college was all about? Trying new things? It was _just _a bar she told herself as her and Finn stepped inside and searched for his friends.

"There they are," Finn said placing a hand on her back and ushering her forward to a table in the corner his friends had taken over, "Hey guys."

"Good of you to finally show up," Puck joked almost bitterly as he sipped at his beer.

"Rachel you remember Puck and obviously know Quinn," Finn said with a chuckle, "And this is Sam and Matt and... I think you remember Mike."

Mike reached across the table and shook Rachel's hand, "Nice to see you again."

"Same here, glad to see you were able to get dressed this time around," she said smirking causing a couple of the guys at the table to laugh. "Hi Quinn, Noah."

Puck raised his eyebrow, why did this girl like to call him Noah? He shrugged his shoulders before nodding, "Hey... Berry." he really hoped that was her last name otherwise he had no idea who the fuck Rachel Berry was.

Quinn just shook her and tried to smile as Rachel, "I—I'm glad you were able to join us tonight."

Although she wasn't able to tell if Quinn was actually being sincere or not she gave her a nod, and slipped her jacket off to hang on the back of the chair before sitting down, "Thank you for inviting me!"

As the night progressed Rachel definitely began to feel comfortable, falling into light conversations with Sam and Mike, and even occasionally Quinn. While everyone else stared wings and all that stuff, Rachel picked at a light salad and even let Puck to convince her to have a glass of beer. Although, she only took a sip of it every so often so she really wasn't feel much of anything. Every so often she and Finn would share a glance and Rachel smiled at the sheepish grin that appeared on his face when she caught him looking at her.

"So Rachel," Puck began as he caught her attention, "Are you dating my roommate?"

This caused everyone to stop what they were doing and look at Puck, "E-excuse me?" Sure, she had hung out with Finn a few times but she didn't think of them as dates, unless... were they dates? Puck was his best friend and maybe he knew something she didn't.

"You know, my roommate... Ja- Jesse!" Puck sat up excited he remembered the guys name, "So are you dating him? Quinn told me he came up to the apartment looking for you today. All jealous you were out with Finn and stuff."

"Puck!" Quinn rolled her eyes, "he was not jealous, he just came up to see if you were back from I guess the mall or something," she just shrugged her shoulder.

Finn looked at Puck annoyed, why the hell did he have to bring Jesse up? Rachel shook her head, "No no, we're just studying the same major and have been in plays and all that."

"Oh," he just nodded as he went back to drinking his beer. For a moment everyone thought the conversation was over, that was until Puck opened his mouth again, "So are you seeing anyone?"

"What the hell?" Quinn's voice was harsh, "I'm sitting right now."

"What?" He looked at her confused, "I'm not asking for myself."

Mike rolled his eyes, "i think Puck's had a little bit too much to drink, asking stupid questions and all."

Rachel's mouth formed an 'O' shape as she nodded her head. Looking towards Finn she could see he looked annoyed about something, "Everything okay?"

He nodded, "Yeah fine, I'm actually getting pretty tired and I think I may have drink a bit too much," he was lying, he was definitely far from drunk but for some reason Puck bringing up Jesse had pissed him off royally. "You ready to go, Rach?"

She couldn't help but raise her eyebrow at him calling her Rach but just nodded her head and stood up gathering her stuff, "Sure."

When Finn noticed Rachel digging in her wallet to get out money he put his hand on hers and shook his head, "It's on me." He threw some cash on the table and they said their goodbyes before heading outside and over to the parking garage where he had parked. However, instead of climbing into the car, Finn leaned his back against the driver side door and leaned his head back letting out a deep breath.

Rachel wasn't sure what was going on and she had to admit she was kind of cold. She shoved her hands into her pockets as she swayed back and forth bouncing a little as she watched him, "Finn?"

"Hm?" he lowered his head and looked at her.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," he licked his lips as he stood up straight, "I just got a bit of a headache, I'm sorry if you wanted to stay."

She smiled slightly at him as she pulled her hand out of her pocket and placed it on Finn's arm, "I'd rather be with you."

Finn couldn't help but stare into her face when he heard this words, and for a moment he wondered if they had some sort of meaning, "You're a really cool girl Rach." He reached up to push some hair out of her face, "You look really cute right now."

A soft blush appeared on her features, "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Finn licked his lips again before leaning down slightly, but found himself jumping back when a car drove by beeping the horn. "I fucking hate New Yorkers sometimes," He groaned as he reached up to put his hands on the top of his head, "You ready to go?"

Unsure by what just took place or well _almost _took place just gave him a nod, "Would you like me to drive? Since you said-,"

"I'm good, I really only had a beer, I just- the headache," he lied somewhat (at least about actually about having a headache) before getting into the car and waiting for her to do the same.

Rachel let out a sigh before slipping into the passenger side. Well wasn't this an _interesting _night.

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**R/R? Thanks for all the reviews so far, I do have a bunch of ideas for this story and would love to continue with it. I'd love to get at least 10 reviews _before _I update again. A late birthday present perhaps? But honestly I'd just love everyone's opinion so I know if I should keep going with the story. **


	4. On My Own

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, Finn or Rachel. **

**Summary: A/U. College can be one of the toughest times in someones life. Can a new friendship make things easier? Finchel. slight Quick.**

**Rating: M. I figured just to be safe.**

**A/N: I wanted to thank everyone for their great reviews! It definitely makes me glad to see all of you loving this story!  
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**Chapter Four: On My Own  
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_see all those people on the ground wasting time_  
_try to hold it all inside but just for tonight_  
_the top of the world sitting here wishing_  
_the things i've become that something is missing_  
_maybe i, but what do I know_

Since the moment he had woken up his knee had been bothering him. Mostly due to the fact it was a miserable and rainy day. He had almost considered skipping class, but his music theory teacher was a bit of a hardass so he decided against it and would just deal with the dull pain. He could probably get out of his private study though, it wasn't until later and well he would just have to figure it out as it got closer to the time and well when he was actually at a computer so he could email his professor. Today was just one of those days where he wished he had absolutely nothing to do, sadly he knew that it was only Wednesday and it just wasn't going to go that way.

Lately he had begun to notice that he was becoming more and more hostile towards his roommate Jesse, and there wasn't really a reason for it. Okay, _actually_ that was pretty much a lie. When it came down to it the reason came in the form of a very pretty short brunette. He knew that they had only just really started to hang out and slowly were becoming decent friends, but he couldn't help but to be drawn to her. Like, he knew Jesse _kind of _had known her longer and all that junk, but he really hoped he was getting to know her on an entirely different level than his roommate. Although, he couldn't exactly tell, he wasn't around Jesse and Rachel enough to see how they were. It was only yesterday when he came back to the apartment to find Jesse and her going over some script together, and well him being who he is immediately just escaped to his bedroom. Why was be starting to feel like this was becoming a stupid contest?

Once class was over he quickly headed outside and all he could do was groan at the down pour that was occurring in front of him. There was no way to avoid walking through it if he wanted to get back to the apartment, and that was exactly what he wanted to do. After walking under the covered area as far as it stretched, he came to a halt and threw the hood on his sweatshirt up. However, just as he was able to step out he heard a voice over his right shoulder.

"Not very proper weather attire," the voice said sweetly causing him to look to his side just in time to see Rachel walk up next to him, dressed in a pink raincoat with white polka dots on them with rain boots on her feet, "Your sweatshirt is going to be soaked within seconds."

Finn couldn't help but smirked, even though she pretty much had a valid point, "I guess I'm just not as prepared as you, Rach."

She couldn't deny that every time she heard him call her Rach she wanted to smile, she liked the small nickname he had deemed her with as of lately. Pushing her hood back for a minute, she didn't even care how frizzy and messy her hair was from the static from being in her raincoat, "Clearly, but that's all right." Clutching her book to her chest she licked her lips and looked up at him, "Where are you headed?"

"To the apartments, what about you?"

Biting her bottom lip she nodded, "Same. Do you want to walk together?"

He noticed the shyness in her voice during the question and actually found it silly. They were friends and they were headed to the same place, why wouldn't he want to walk with her? Of course he often noticed he was a bit confused around Rachel so maybe she meant it in an entirely different way. Shrugging his shoulders he nodded, "Sure." Without even realizing what he was doing Finn grabbed her hand as he watched her put her hood back up and they began to walk in the rain. Well, they began to somewhat power walk. Chuckles escaping his lips as little squeals escaped hers, obviously from getting splashed from the puddles already forming on the ground as well as the heavy rain hitting them. Letting go of her hand he lifted the side of his sweatshirt and tried to cover her with it, but she just playful hit him and told him to stop, "I'm just trying to be a nice guy." A smirk appeared on his features as he brought his hands down to her waist and basically lifted her over a giant puddle, making her squeal.

"Don't do that again!" she giggled as she tried to move away from his grasp, desperately trying to hide the blush appearing on her cheeks, "You could have hurt yourself!"

He raised his eyebrow, obviously confused for a moment, "Huh? How would I? You're so light!" When he noticed how she just rolled her eyes he decided instead of saying anything else he would scoop her up into his arms bridal style and continued to walk.

With her eyes wide Rachel began to hit him on the back, "Oh my god! Finn! Put me down! Oh my god, I'm wearing a dress! People can see!"

he couldn't help but chuckle, true in the short time they had started to hang out Finn had noticed her skirts and dresses could be on the short side, "Your coat has you cover. Plus-," he moved his hand slightly, letting his arm graze her ass as he locked the end of the coat between her legs and his arm, "there."

"oh god," she muttered softly, "Please?" however, she hadn't even noticed they were already in the alumni apartment section. Finally putting her down, Rachel grabbed onto Finn's hands as they walked the rest of the way until they reached their doors. "Well-," she began to head up stairs, "I'll just see you later, bye Finn."

Bye Rach...," he paused as he watched her head up the stairs, and suddenly he realized something, "Wait! Come over!"

Stopping right before she reached the very top she turned and looked down at him, "Hm?"

Finn suddenly felt flustered, like he was back in high school all of a sudden, "Come over, we can watch a movie or something in my room."

Rachel couldn't help but raise her eyebrow at this. Obviously they had watched movies together at his place, yet they never had in his room, Rachel actually had never been in his room at all. "Sure," her face lit up as she headed down the stairs and followed Finn into his place.

"Sorry for the mess," he apologized as he led Rachel into his room for the first time ever. Grabbing his hamper he began to shove loose clothes into it before pushing the hamper under his bed.

"It's fine," she smiled sweetly at him as she slipped off her raincoat and rain boots, leaving them by his computer chair. All the rooms in the alumni apartments were basically the same. The only differences really were what side of the room the bed was on compared to the desks in some of the rooms, and well how high people would raise their beds. Finn's bed was_ definitely _way higher than hers, but then again he was a lot taller than her. When he suggested for her to sit down she began to hesitant, she would not be able to climb onto that thing, "Umm... can you help me?"

Finn looked at her then at his bed and let out a chuckle, "Come here." Finn placed his hands on her waist and lifted her, of course as soon as he was sitting he let his hands linger for a moment. "There we go," he said slightly awkward as he finally removed his hands, his gaze going to her bare legs for a moment, "I figured it's such a shitty day we could watch something on Netflix."

"I'd like that," Rachel watched as he unhooked his laptop from whatever it was hooked up to on his desk and brought it over to join her on the bed.

Maneuvering around so he was on the inside and his backs were against the pillows, Finn patted the spit next to him for her to take, he really needed to stretch out his legs. She slipped into the spot, blushing softly as she realized how close they were, but she wouldn't change it. After god knows how long the two finally came to agreement and streamed Free Willy. Finn wasn't sure how he agreed to it, but he kind of loved the movie when he was little and he figured it was a classic or something like that. Slipping his arm behind her he grinned slightly as she nuzzled into his side.

They were like that for quite sometime, his hand eventually making it's way to rest on her shoulder, even playing with a few strands of hair every so often. It only made him realize how much he really liked having Rachel around, and her close to him, it just felt _really _nice. Ever since he started to go to purchase, he kind of kept girls at bay. Sure, there were the occasional hook ups, not all were his finest hour though. Sitting there like he was, he didn't even realize how much time had passed. The weather was gloom all day, so it getting darker didn't even occur to him. After Free Willy he somehow got convinced to watch The Secret Garden and the whole time he kept complaining how it creeped him out that the little boy was basically saying he'd marry his cousin.

They were in their own little world, that was until the door was thrown up and followed by a rather annoyed voice, "You _so _owe me! I mean- ooh!," Kurt Hummel's eyes widened as he saw his stepbrother jump slightly almost knocking his laptop to the floor. Thankfully Rachel's leg stopped it, well thankfully for him, not so much for her.

"Ow," she sat up, moving away from Finn as she reached forward to rub her leg where the laptop had collided with her.

"Sorry," Finn gave her a sympathetic look as he placed his hand on her lower back before looking at his stepbrother, who had this 'care to explain' look all over his face, "Um.. Kurt, uh what are you doing here?"

"Well dear brother of mine, need I remind you of your private study lesson you had today? Mr. Kline ran into me and asked if I knew where you were since you apparently did not show up. I being the fabulous actor that I am I explained that you weren't feeling too well this morning and had went to lay down and more than likely probably was still asleep. He said you can reschedule for Friday," a smirk came to his face as he glanced between Rachel and Finn "I came to see if you had died, but apparently you're quite fine."

Rachel blushed softly as she looked down at her lap, "I should probably go." With the help of Finn she slid down off his bed, but not before he got a slight glance at her underwear from her skirt rising up. That's really what he needed, to see that in front of his step-brother. He took a deep breath and looked towards one of the posters on his wall as Rachel gathered her belongs and moved passed Kurt to get out of the room, "Bye Finn," she smiled sweetly before looking at Kurt, "Bye Kurt."

Once the front door was heard closing Kurt opened his mouth, "So miss Rachel Berry?" he rolled his eyes, "I don't know whether to be appalled or amused."

After shutting his laptop, Finn hopped down off his bed and put it back on his desk before heading out of the room to the kitchen, "Shut up. How did you get in here anyway?"

"I have a key," Kurt said in a very matter-of-fact tone and Finn didn't even bother to ask how he got a key, "So how long has this been going on?"

"How long has what been going on?"

"Why are you so clueless?" Kurt leaned against the side of the island and rolled his eyes at his step-brother's stupidity. "How long have you and Rachel been seeing each other? I'm surprised she hasn't said anything to me. Although, she has been smiling nonstop lately."

"has she really?" Finn shook his head and let out a groan as he grabbed a bag of fruit snack, "We're _just _friends!"

"Just friends?" he couldn't help but smirk, "What I walked in on looked a little more than 'just friends' to me, Finn. Although, she can be somewhat annoying, rather annoying actually, she's definitely got a big heart," he stood up straight and let his hands come down to grip the edge of the counter, "And I definitely approve of her over that Santana Lopez skank you dated in high school."

Cringing slightly, Finn shook his head and popped a fruit snack into his mouth, "please don't _ever _bring her up!"

Before Kurt could say anything else, he was cut off by the front door opening, "Puckzilla is in the house!" Puck's voice rang through the small apartment as he let the front door shut behind him and went over to throw his bag on the table, "Hummel."

"Puckerman."

Crossing his arms and leaning his behind against the table, Puck looked at the guys, "So what are you ladies discussing?"

Kurt looked at Finn for a moment before glancing back to Puck, "Rachel Berry."

"You nail her yet?"

Finn narrowed his eyes as he glared at his so-called best friend, "We're JUST friends! Why is that so hard for anyone to compr-"

"Comprehend," Kurt finished his sentence while glancing down at his finger nails.

"Yes, comprehend, we're just friends, nothing else."

"Uh huh," Puck smirked, "That's why whenever Jesse is around you give him a death glare. And wasn't it you who just yesterday escaped into your bedroom when you realized he was here _with_ Berry, running lines."

"St. James?" Kurt asked receiving a nod from both guys, "He has been hanging around more lately, I thought it was for my fabulous acting skills, but I guess it _could _be for Rachel. Maybe he likes her?"

"Great for him," Finn muttered under his breath as he grabbed another package of fruit snacks, he didn't even know who the hells they were but he was pretty sure he was going to end up eating the whole box. Part of him hoped they were Jesse's.

"Do I sense a tone of jealousy in your voice, Mr. Hudson?" Kurt smirked, "I caught him and Rachel cuddling, but he swears they are _'just friends'._"

"Well if you guys are _really _just friends, then you won't care that Jesse is outside with her right now, asking her out on a date," Puck declared causing Finn to drop his fruit snacks and look at him.

"What?"

"Oh yeah, just friends my ass," Kurt muttered up his breath, chuckling slightly.

* * *

She was confused, utterly confused, and that was not something Rachel Berry experienced often. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't slowly falling for Finn Hudson, and at times she felt like it could be mutual, but then again she just didn't know. They were definitely becoming friends, and she was starting to feel like she was getting a real true friend at school. Not that Tina, Mercedes, and Kurt didn't count, but they weren't exactly _that _close, especially her and Kurt. So could she have been confusing Finn's friendship as feelings? The last thing she wanted to be was wrong. Then there was Jesse St. James, he was a senior and someone Rachel admired very much, and had the last two years. They had talked on and off but lately he had been paying an extreme amount of attention to her and well she wasn't going to lie and say she wasn't flattered.

When she emerged from the apartment, her raincoat loosely open she wasn't entirely surprised to see Jesse approaching, after all, he _was _one of Finn's roommates. Of course, what she hadn't expected was for him to ask to talk to her, not that he hadn't done that before. Just this time, this time the tone in his room made her curious. Nodding, he allowed her to lead her against the wall opposite from his front door. He had been rather flirty lately, she wasn't _that _experienced with guys, but she knew the basics. Of course, she had been somewhat shocked when he asked her on a date and well her mind kind of immediately went to Finn. And when she saw Puck walk by she just didn't know what to do, he gave them an odd glance before heading into his apartment.

"Oh," she began to chew on her bottom lip slightly. This was a girl who could be strong but when it came to guys she was just so shy at times, "I'm not sure, Jesse."

"Why not?" he leaned his hand against the wall behind her as he stared her in the face, his only mere inches from hers, "Is it Finn? Cause you know you are just his friend, right?" Jesse knew he wasn't perfect, he knew there was a _chance _that Finn actually liked Rachel, but honestly that kid was too dumb for such a great girl like this. So if he had to play dirty, well then he was going to play dirty. "Come on Rachel, go on a date with me."

"I- okay," she smiled softly, it kind of sucked hearing that she was just Finn's friend, but Jesse was- this was Jesse St. James, maybe she should give it a try, "We can go on a date, Jesse."

"Great," he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek, "I'll pick you up at 8, okay?" he turned on his heel and headed into his apartment and left her standing there with wide eyes.

Once Rachel finally headed upstairs she slipped into the apartment, startled for a moment when she saw Quinn sitting at the table eating. "oh-, hi Quinn."

Quinn raised her eyebrow at her roommate, the girl seemed a little- off? "Hi, Rachel... are you okay?"

"I guess so?" she shrugged her shoulders as she went over to the fridge to grab a water, "Hey Quinn?"

Quinn who had focused back on her food once again looked up, "Uh yeah?"

"Can you help me?" She opened the bottle and took a sip, "I have a date tonight and I kind of- umm don't know what to wear."

"With who?" Quinn asked as she raised her eyebrow, she immediately thought Finn, since well from what Puck had said his best friend had seemed to take a liking to her roommate. And after how he 'suddenly' had to leave that night at the bar when Puck asked if she was dating Jesse, he had a feeling Puck wasn't lying.

"Jesse St. James," Rachel's answer made Quinn choke on her piece of chicken for a minute, "Are you okay?"

"Just dandy," she rolled her eyes, "Let's go see if there is something- appropriate in your closet," she stood up and headed into Rachel's room with her, even though she wasn't sure she should be helping with this matter.

* * *

Kurt had decided to stay around his step-brothers apartment, even though as soon as Finn saw Jesse leave for his date with Rachel. Apparently he felt the need to share with them his plans for the night, Finn had locked himself in his room and put his music up all the way. Quinn eventually made her way downstairs and shared with Kurt and Puck how she helped Rachel get ready for the date, but she didn't think Rachel was _that _excited for it. She fibbed a little though, Rachel wasn't completely against it, Jesse was _kinda _cute, but she had a feeling Rachel wasn't sure about it. The three of them sat on the couch staring aimlessly at the television as Finn's music kept playing the most ridiculous shit ever.

"What the fuck is he listening to?" Puck groaned from his spot next to his whatever, "The whiny bitch channel? This is fucking terrible! I'm going to claw my eyes out in a minute!" He sat up and buried his head in his hands, "Does he not realize how many man points he is losing right now?"

"I don't think he downright cares," Kurt said nonchalantly, "Although I never expected him to act like _this_ over a girl with terrible fashion sense."

Quinn turned to look at Kurt, "You know, she _actually _has cute clothes in her closet, I just think she fails at like putting together a cute outfit."

"Really?" Kurt's eyes widened as a smile appeared on his lips, "I mean there has been time shes worn an outfit that actually is cute, but she always adds something that makes it just- hideous. I might have to take her under my wing."

"Oh my god!" Puck sat up and stared at them, "Would you two SHUT up! I can't take this, you're talking about clothes and Finn has come a girl in the matter of minutes." Pushing himself to his feet he started to hit his fist against Finn's door, "Would you turn that shit off? Seriously, dude! I mean why would you even care about a girl who dresses like a fucking preschooler!"

"Puck be nice," Quinn warned him.

He glanced over at her confused, "You guys were just talking about she dresses bad but I can't say it? I don't get your brains at all."

"He likes her," she didn't know _why _Finn liked her, but he did and well she knew what it was like to like someone and them just confuse you. "Just be nice."

He let out a groan and started to knock on the door again, "Man, come on. You're Finn Hudson, you can have any girl you want!"

What happened next shocked everyone, the music shut off, which Puck thanked god for profusely, and then the door opened and Finn stood there glaring. "What are you guys babbling on about? I don't care one bit about Rachel being on a date with St. Jackass, we're just friends."

"Ah, the lovely 'just friends' thing again, apparently you call your friends date St. Jackass though, cute," Kurt said very sarcastically.

"I can't listen to you guys anymore. Apparently you just can't accept the truth, I'm going out." Grabbing his jacket and keys he headed out of the apartment and slammed the door behind him. He couldn't deal with their constant yapping, but were they actually right? Why the hell had he gotten so mad over this? Did he like Rachel? Fuck, he did didn't he? Groaning he started to just walk aimlessly around campus trying to clear his head.

Eventually Finn found himself in front of the on campus Starbucks and headed inside, he didn't even _like _coffee but for some reason he figured he'd get something. When he noticed they were hiring and since they usually hired kids on campus he figured he'd ask for an application, he had been lacking in the looking for a job department as of late. Settling down at a table he started filling out the application as he drank his whatever the shit he got was, it wasn't even _that _good. Why did people rave about Starbucks all the time? It was pure shit to him, however, here was applying for a job at one, great. Letting out a sigh he lifted his head only to groan when he noticed Rachel and Jesse walk through the door. "Really?" he muttered under his breath, was this _really _happening to him right now?

Spotting Finn, Rachel gave him a a small wave and whispered something to Jesse before walking over, "Hey Finn."

He glanced at her, she looked beautiful, she was in dark blue dress with a yellow cardigan over it, her hair in loose curls. God, why did it have to be for Jesse St. James? "Hey Rach, you look pretty."

Her cheeks reddened as she smiled brightly, "Thank you, what are you doing? I thought you didn't like Starbucks."

After taking another sip of his drink he made a disgusted face before putting it back down, "Ugh, I don't- but I'm filling out an application to work here."

Rachel couldn't help but giggle at his reaction to the sip he took, "Here?" she just couldn't see Finn working at Starbucks, but he had recently told her he _really _needed a job, "Don't work here," she pulled the application away from him and ripped it up.

"What the fuck? Rachel, why the hell did you just do that?" he stared at her confused, was she crazy? He had blatantly told her he had to get a job soon and here he was trying to do that and she ripped up the application. Some friend she was.

"I have the _perfect _job for you," she smiled brightly, making him feel a little bit like an idiot for just getting annoyed. "Can I sit down?" he nodded and she smoothed the back of her dress as she sat down, "Work in the ticket window at the theater. I mean I know you said you need a job for you basics, and you can definitely get a few good hours there."

"The ticket window?" he raised his eyebrow.

"Yes, silly.. They need someone in the ticket window like everyday because of the shows the theater puts on. The theater rents it's self out," she smiled sweetly, "Anyway, I worked there last year and it's pretty easy. You just answer phone calls and basically set up tickets, and well when there is a show you'd probably have to work. I swear, it's _really _easy."

"But just because it's easy doesn't mean I'll get it," he said sighing.

"Well, that's where I come in! They need another person and they asked me if I could, but my dads said I don't need to work this year and just focus on my acting, so I will tell them to hire you. They _love _me there, and when I tell them how great you are, you'll be in for sure."

He couldn't help but smile at how excited she was over this, "You'd really do that for me, Rach?"

"Of course, Finn," she reached over to put her hand on his, "What are friends for?"

"Yeah," he licked his lips and looked down at their hands before pulling his away, "So you and Jesse, huh? That's cool, I'm happy for you."

"Oh," her face dropped for a moment but she quickly plastered a fake smile on her face, "It's just a date, doesn't mean anything."

"Could turn into more," What the fuck was he doing? He was encouraging her seeing Jesse? There was honestly something wrong with him, "I really hope it works out."

"I-," Rachel was cut off by Jesse approaching with two drinks.

"Here you go, Rachel," Jesse handed her hers before looking over at Finn, "hey man."

"Hey," Finn said trying to muster a smile but it wasn't working, "Well I'm going to head back to the dorms, you guys have a good night." Finn stood up and took his drink not even bothering to hear what else Rachel might have had to say. Once he was outside and out of view he took another sip of his coffee and just coughed, "This fucking shit sucks." He turned around and threw his cup against the wall. This was going to be a long year.

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It took me a little while to get this chapter out! but I put off getting ready for tonight so you can all have a little halloween present! I'd love to get at least 10 reviews for this, more would be love as well! I'd love to see what people want to happen, or what they suspect could come!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!


	5. Defying Gravity

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, Finn or Rachel. **

**Summary: A/U. College can be one of the toughest times in someones life. Can a new friendship make things easier? Finchel. slight Quick.**

**Rating: M. I figured just to be safe.**

**A/N: I wanted to thank everyone for their great reviews! It definitely makes me glad to see all of you loving this story! Honestly, you guys are what keeps me writing. 33  
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**Chapter Five: Defying Gravity  
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_Something has changed within me,_  
_Something is not the same._  
_I'm through with playing by the rules_  
_Of someone else's game._

The week of Thanksgiving. It had approached a lot quicker than anyone anticipated. Of course with finals right around the corner it was to be expected. They had barely had spent any time together and it really bothered her, even if she didn't vocalize it. He kept saying he was just busy with classes and the new job she had gotten him, but she had a feeling it was something else. The times that they did hang out he was distant, almost like he was afraid to be around her. Part of her wondered if Jesse had something to his roommate to cause this rather odd strife. Jesse and her were basically dating, and well... it was all right. She just couldn't help but feel confused on some strange level. It definitely didn't help that after every date they had Jesse was coming onto her more and more, to the point he had been trying to get her to sleep over. Rachel knew _very _well what he had planned to have happen if she did, but she wasn't ready. Not only was she still a virgin (by choice of course), but Finn's room was directly next to Jesse's and the thought about experiencing something like that the first time with Finn in the next room, it just made her way too uncomfortable.

She had been trying to bury herself in the upcoming play King John by William Shakespeare she was taking part of starting in December. It kept her thoughts pretty much occupied and she was extremely grateful for that. Sure, still only being in her third year things were a lot more learning then performing, but next year when she would be apart of the senior company she would be the star, at least that's what she kept telling herself. She had been in her fall production and was looking forward to the spring semester. She couldn't help but be excited about her dads flying in for Thanksgiving, they were going to be spending the entire weekend in the city. Seeing the parade, and taking in plays, eating at all the best restaurants, it was definitely something to look forward to. She was hesitant about Jesse possibly meeting her fathers (if he even wanted to), but then again she hadn't actually sat down and discussed what his own plays were for the small break. Truthfully, she found herself wondering a whole lot more what Finn's plans were, but she didn't know if she should just ask given the oddness that ensued between them. Yet, there was definitely _someone _close to him that would know the answer.

Kurt was gathering his belongings when Rachel approached him, a huge grin plastered on her face, "Hey Kurt!"

"Rachel," his tone was a bit dry towards her, he knew Rachel hadn't purposely hurt Finn, hell Finn still wouldn't admit he even liked her. It was just he had become rather protective of his big doofus of a stepbrother. Looking over her outfit for a minute he sighed softly, "_Well, _your outfit isn't entirely an eyesore, I applaud you."

She smiled slightly, not really wanting to dwell on the fact he had basically trashed her clothing, "I was wondering what you are doing for Thanksgiving."

"Oh?" Kurt lifted his bag onto his shoulder as they began to walk out of the class, "Well sadly, Finn and I won be flying home because it's too expensive."

"Really? I'm sorry," she actually felt bad over it, not being able to go home and spend it with your family, "What are you going to do on the actual day?"

"Not sure yet, I know Finn said Puck isn't going home either so they'll probably spend the day being neanderthals. What are you doing?"

Rachel's face lit up as she started to explain the Thanksgiving weekend she had planned with her fathers. However, before she got the chance to _really _get into it, Jesse appeared in the doorway. "Are you ready to go, Rachel?"

"Uh.. yeah, bye Kurt," she gave him a small wave before going over and joining hands with Jesse. She wished she could be happier about their relationship, but for some reason she was having some inner struggle when it came it to it.

He wasn't stupid either, he could sense her distance. It was actually odd for him, most theater girls would die for a chance with him. Yet here was the girl he chose and she wasn't into it at all. Coming to a halt Jesse pulled Rachel to him and pressed a hard kiss against her lips, a smirk appearing when he felt her kiss back. However, before he could fully dive into the kiss she was pulling away.

"So," she smiled softly as she reached up to push a strand of her hair behind her ear, "have you decided what you're doing for Thanksgiving?"

He shrugged his shoulders as he grabbed Rachel's jacket out of her arms and held it out so she could slip it on, "I'm more than likely just heading into the city to spend it at my uncles, but I'm probably spending most of the day with some of my friends down there anyway. I'm leaving early in the morning soo... you should stay over tonight."

She looked down at her feet, afraid to meet his gaze, "Jesse, I don't know... we just-," she paused to finally look up, "We haven't been dating that long, I just don't feel like it's the proper thing to do."

"I don't understand you," he said honestly, "I would think you'd be happy to date me, but instead it's like you don't even care. Do me a favor, don't bother talking to me until you've figured out what you want."

"Jesse," Rachel sighed as she watched him walk away and out of the building.

"He's right you know," Rachel quickly turned around to see Kurt leaning against one of the walls, "Not that I care all that much about your feelings, but are you _even _happy with him?"

"Yes," she bit her lip nervously, "Of course, he is my boyfriend after all."

"You sure, Rachel? Or are you trying to make yourself believe that you're happy?" Kurt pushed back from the wall and went to stand in front of her, a sympathetic look on his face, "I know you want to be this big star, and logically Jesse would be the ideal match. You two have similar goals and dreams, as much as it leaves a disgusting taste in my mouth to admit, you'll both make it. Yet, pushing all that aside, is he really the one you want?" He didn't say anymore, but instead left her there wondering.

* * *

He wasn't completely bummed out about not going home for Thanksgiving, especially given he'd be heading home in a couple weeks for winter break anyway. He honestly was just so looking forward to sleeping in the whole weekend, well aside from when he needed to be at work. Work, surprisingly he was enjoying the job. Rachel hadn't been lying when she said it was easy for him. It was probably the _only _easy thing in his life at that current time. His growing friendship with Rachel had become awkward, and he knew there wasn't anyone else to blame but himself. It had taken him too long to figure out he was attracted to her, or maybe he had just been scared? She wasn't like other girls, he could tell that from the moment he meant her. Cheesy pick lines weren't going to work in this situation. It bugged him so much that she was dating Jesse, but what the hell could he do about it? He was the stupid one who had even said to her it was a good idea? He seriously needed a brain scan or whatever that thing was because he honestly did not think before he spoke.

When he received her text message to hang out Tuesday night, he had been rather hesitant about saying yes. After debating an answer for sometime, he finally told her he was down and the two planned to hang out at her place since Quinn and her other roommates had already left to go home. After his final class of the day Finn headed back to his apartment to take a quick shower before heading up to Rachel's. As he waited outside her door he couldn't help but wonder if this was a bad idea, that was only until he saw her smile.

The two settled on the couch with a huge quilt and ate the fake chicken Rachel had prepared for them, and Finn was actually pretty surprised that he enjoyed the meatless product as much as he did. "How do I let you convince me to watch these movies?" He asked with a chuckle as he glanced at the television that was currently playing A Walk to Remember, "I'm pretty sure Puck would revoke all my dude points if he saw me right now."

"I can put in one of my musicals instead if you'd rather that," she grinned widely causing him to groan, "Not my fault television isn't thrilling currently." She licked her lips after finishing the last of her chicken, "Kurt said you guys are staying on campus for Thanksgiving, I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he said shrugging his shoulders, "It's no big deal really."

"You guys should come down to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in the city," she smiled brightly, "I'm going with my dads."

"I don't know, Rachel... I'm probably just gonna sleep in," Noticing her smile falter a little he started to feel bad, "Thanks for the suggestion though, I'll keep it in mind. So," he reached back to rub his neck, "Why aren't you hanging out with Jesse?"

She sighed softly, "Things are confusing with us right now," when she noticed him open his mouth to say something, she moved, climbing on top of him to put her hand over his mouth, "Please don't ask, I'd rather just spend time with my friend right now then talk about all that."

Finn nodded and zipped his mouth, actually a little surprised that Rachel didn't move off of him when she was done talking. Fixing the blanket, she laid her head on his chest as she focused on the movie. Even though lately Finn had avoided having any physical contact with her since she began to date Jesse, he just didn't have it in him to ask her to move. Placing his hand on her back he rubbed slow circles as he himself _attempted _to focus on the film. Some time had passed before Finn swore he heard Rachel crying, "Rach?" yet she didn't answer her and as he kept wetness seep through his shirt he _knew _she was definitely crying, "Rach, what's wrong?"

She lifted her head and looked at him sadly for a moment before smiling, "Sorry, this part is really sad." Rachel moved so she was sitting up between Finn's legs, "Finn-"

"Yeah?" he sat up, his hand coming to push some of her hair out of her face, "What's up?"

"I think I have fe-," but before she could finish there was a pounding at the door followed by Mike's voice basically panicking!

"Finn are you in there? Or Rachel? Puck set the kitchen on fire!" Rachel and Finn quickly jumped up from the couch and opened the door and quickly followed Mike downstairs to the apartment.

There in the kitchen stood a frantic Puck and Jesse trying to put out some fire that Puck had accidentally started while he was attempting to cook himself dinner. It was clear just by looking at them Puck and Jesse had been fighting the entire time trying to put it out. Puck kept trying to blow on it and waving a dish rag in front of it "Stop doing that! You're going to set the fucking towel on fire you idiot!" Jesse yelled as he looked for everything and anything that could work, finally grabbing some baking soda out of a cupboard and pouring it all over the stove putting it out.

"What the fuck just happened?" Finn asked from where he was standing with Rachel and Mike, he had his hand on Rachel's back and didn't even care of Jesse noticed.

"Apparently Puckerman doesn't know how to cook and almost set the fucking apartment on fire," Jesse turned to see his two roommates and his girlfriend standing there, Finn's hand on Rachel. It bugged him definitely, he knew they were friends but he also knew that even if his monster of a roommate hadn't said anything that he had a crush or something on Rachel. "What are you doing here?" he said directing the question towards Rachel, biting his tongue to not add 'with him'.

"Finn was over and Mike came up and started freaking out about a fire," Rachel stepped away from the boys and headed into the kitchen area, "What were you even cooking?"

"I uh-," Puck dropped his head in defeat, "It doesn't even matter now."

"So," Jesse crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm guessing you've been too busy with Finn to figure out what you want, am I right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rachel didn't want to discuss their problems in front of her friends, well her friend and whatever Noah and Mike were to her.

"Don't want Finn to hear us, huh?" Jesse said almost spiteful before turning and walking towards his room, "For a girl who says she always knows what she wants, you're not doing a very good job of it."

"Uhhh-," Puck had not idea what just happened and quickly turned to look at Mike, "Lets go get some Chinese food man, my treat." He grabbed his jacket and threw it out, him and Mike heading out of the apartment leaving Rachel and Finn standing there.

"I'm guessing that has to do with what you _didn't _want to talk about?"

Rachel turned to look at him and nodded, "I've just been- confused and he's just obviously jumping to conclusions." Finn was the last person she wanted to talk about her problems with Jesse about, "We're just- you know, busy with our growing careers in this school and it's been hard to spent a good amount of time together."

"Uh, okay?" Finn had no idea what she was talking about and figured it probably be better to leave well enough alone.

Rachel plastered a smile on her face and headed over to Finn, taking his hand she basically dragged him out of his apartment and back to hers. Saying their hangout session was far from over. After a lot of convincing from him, Rachel allowed him to put on Rudy swearing that she'd love it. Half way through the movie she was dead asleep on his chest and well, not wanting to move her Finn allowed himself to fall asleep, his arm holding her protectively to him. When he came to, the clock said it was 3 am and as much as he really wanted to continue to sleep like this he knew he just couldn't, it wasn't fair. He needed to think and he had to think about things quick. Carefully getting up he scooped Rachel up in his arms, smirking at how she didn't even stir. Carrying her into her room, he put her down in her bed and went over to find some paper and a pen to scribble down a note.

_Hey Rach,_

_You were so tired I didn't want to wake you up so I carried you in here. I had a good time tonight, sorry things are uh awkward with Jesse and all that. Anyway, I have class today because my teacher didn't want to cancel anything so I'll probably see you around. If not, talk to you soon. I'll be back to the apartment around 1. _

_Finn._

* * *

When she woke up on Wednesday morning she was in a bit of a daze, and while she would normally get out of bed right away to go about her morning rituals, she opted to stay in bed a little longer. As the memories of the previous evening came flooding back she wondered what happened to Finn and how she managed to get into her bed since she clearly remembered being on the couch. Both questions were answered when she finally got out of bed and found the note sitting on her desk. Letting out a sigh when realization set in that she had to meet her fathers at their hotel at noon since her teachers had canceled all of the classes for the day. Since she had already slept later than usually she knew she probably wouldn't be able to see Finn before she left, especially since she couldn't run all the way across campus to hunt him down and he wouldn't be back over here till around 1. Glancing at the clock she wondered if she would even hear from Jesse before he left, but after yesterday she wasn't seeing that as a possibility. She put the note back down on her desk and gathered her belongings and headed into the shower.

As the water rolled down her body she closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the tiled wall. She had ialmost/i admitted to Finn that she had feelings toward him, because honestly on some level she did. However, she had a boyfriend and well even if she was really confused on what was going on with them she did have feelings toward him in a way, an attraction nonetheless. It wasn't fair of her to continue to be so distant towards him when he really didn't do anything to deserve it. He was a great guy and they had so much in common, maybe too much? Maybe she didn't want to share the spotlight. Rachel Berry wanted to be a star as long as she could remember, and as she got to know Jesse he had the same ambitions, maybe it was all too similar? But shouldn't that be a good thing? Finn was different though, which wasn't a bad thing, she actually liked the fact they had a lot of different likes and dislikes.

Once the water turned cold Rachel made her way out of the shower and began to get ready. With the taxi called and apparently on it's way she made sure all her necessities were packed and slipped into her dark red pea coat and black knit hat and headed downstairs and to the parking lot to wait for the cab. However, soon enough 5 minutes turned into 10, and then 10 turned into 20, and as it was nearing over a half hour she began to grow impatient. She slipped her hand into her pocket searching for her phone, but before she even grasped it a voice quickly caught her attention.

"What are you doing, Berry?"

Turning towards it, Rachel spotted Noah Puckerman headed down to his car, his eyebrow raised as he stared at her, "I've been waiting for a cab that should have been here 40 minutes ago."

"Uh-," he pursed his lips and looked around the parking lot before looking back at her, it was pretty bare since most kids had headed home for Thanksgiving, "Don't you _have _a car?" He swore that one of the ones currently in the parking lot was hers, but he could have been wrong.

"I do, however, I did not want to leave my car at the parking garage at the train station until Sunday, nor did I want to drive it down to the city. And I would have asked Jesse to drop me off, but from what I can see his own car is gone so he probably drove into the city himself and well here I am waiting for a taxi that still hasn't shown, so I'm about to call the place and make a very hefty complain," she rambled on and on.

"Oh," Puck wasn't even sure he had caught all of that, "So you need a ride to the train station... or the city?"

"Well the train station, it so much of a hassle to drive into the city I hear, and I'm staying at The Grand Hyatt New York which is literally right there," she said with a soft smile.

"Don't bother calling the cab company back," he started to explain as he went over to her and grabbed her bag, "I'll drive you to the train station." He motioned for her to follow him as he opened his backseat and threw her bag inside, causing her to wince just a little hoping nothing broke.

Once they were both inside the car, Puck headed off of Purchase grounds and began to drive towards the White Plains train station. He had been there a couple times when he had traveled down to the city, so he kind of had an idea where he was going. Rachel glanced over at him while he was driving and smiled, "Thanks a lot for driving me to the station, Noah."

"It's all good, Berry," he licked his lips and couldn't help but let his gaze fall on her stocking covered legs for a moment before looking back at the road. He was a guy and although she kind of dressed like a total preschooler, he thought Rachel was cute in some ways. "So- what's been up with you lately? You seem- weird."

"Excuse me?" Rachel looked at him almost shocked by his words.

"Well uh," he reached up to rub the back of his head, "We've only known each other for a couple months, but I don't know you don't seem your annoyingly bubbly self- I mean like you're not annoying just... I hope you get what I mean."

"I don't," she said narrowing her eyes and turning to look out the window, "I've just been busy with school."

"I see- or Jesse?" he knew he shouldn't be asking personal question, but part of him wanted to know due to Finn.

"I guess," she shrugged her shoulders before looking back at him, "Why?"

"I don't know, just making conversation," he was silent for a few moments before finally clearing his throat, "You guys seemed weird last night- you and Jesse I mean."

Rachel sighed softly, "We're just going through a rough spot, it's nothing," thankfully before she got to say anymore Puck had turned down the street that led to the train station. When the car came to a stop she gave Puck an award winning smile before climbing out, "Thanks again, Noah. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving."

"Yeah, same to you-," He watched as she shut the door and grabbed her back from the back, "hey Rachel, you know that Finn cares about you a lot and if Jesse ever does anything to hurt you or something, Finn and I will kick his ass."

All she could do was smile, "Thanks, Noah."

* * *

He hadn't even bothered to ask her what time she had to be down to the city, so when he came back to the apartments after deciding he was going to tell her he liked her, disappointment soon hit him. He really didn't want to wait until she got back on Sunday, but what else was he going to do? It was not a conversation meant for the phone? Plus, he still needed to figure out some things, like how he was going to deal with her boyfriend who happened to be one of his roommates. All the thinking made him really tired apparently and before he knew it it was only 8:30 and he was out like a light. Of course, because he fell asleep so early he ended up waking up way before he wanted to. Pulling himself out of his bed, he glanced at the clock and an idea quickly formed in his head, of course he wouldn't be doing it alone.

"I can't believe you fucking dragged me out of bed at the ass crack of dawn to make me come down to the city with you to find Rachel in the fucking middle of the Thanksgiving day parade! This is like finding a fucking needle in a haystack dude," Puck ranted as they made their way out of grand central terminal and down the streets of New York City.

"Actually," Kurt spoke up, a small yawn escaping from his lips, "I believe we'd have an easier time finding a needle in a haystack, do you know how many people are here Finn? She could be ANYWHERE!" He understood his stepbrother had finally gotten up enough courage to tell the little annoying future star he liked her, but had he even thought this plan through?

Turning to look at them, a serious look on his features, "She told Puck she was saying at The Grand Hyatt which is right there, so the parade is up this way so I highly doubt she'd be on the total opposite end of town," he turned his back to them and began to walk again, Puck just groaning as he shoved his hands into his pocket.

"I feel like this is the only time I've really seen Finn passionate about something," Kurt muttered softly to his stepbrothers roommate.

"You better fucking get laid out of this dude otherwise I am fucking killing you!" Puck yelled causing a bunch of people to look at them, "Mind your own business! Go eat your fucking Turkeys!"

"Don't mind him," Kurt said with apologetic glances at the people, "He suffers from tourettes." He rolled his eyes and pushed Puck ahead, "So did anyone think out what they are going to do if we find Rachel and Jesse's with her?"

Both Finn and Puck came to a halt and turned to look at Kurt, of course Finn was the one that spoke, "Why would Jesse be with her?"

"Well, Jesse is in the city for the holiday and maybe he called her up to meet up, I mean they Iare/i dating after all."

"What the hell dude!" Finn groaned as he reached up to put his hands on the top of his head, "You knew this and didn't tell me?"

"Well, I just- you were so gung-ho about coming down here," Kurt began to feel bad, maybe he should have kept his mouth shut, "I could be wrong though, I mean they did leave on weird terms."

"Lets just keep going," Finn motioned for them to follow him as they began to reach the crowds. The group spread out and began to look, but soon enough the parade had started and none of them were seeming to have any luck. Finn couldn't believe he had done this, maybe he should have thought this out better. As more time started to pass he just felt defeated, maybe he was never meant to tell Rachel how he felt?

"Dude," Puck finally spoke, "Maybe we should start heading back to school, you can talk to her when she gets back on Sunday."

He didn't speak the entire walk back, Puck and Kurt kept trying to get him to, but it really was no use. If it was meant to be he would have found her right? Only if he looked across the way as him and his best friend and stepbrother walked into Grand Central. For a short brunette in a red pea coat made her way down the opposite side of the street with her two dads.

* * *

Hey all! Okay, so I had three options for how to end this chapter, but I thought this particular one was interesting to play off of for future chapters! I have a bunch of stuff up my sleeves so you'll all just have to keep on reading!

For those reading **Ohio is for Lovers** I will be updating it soon, this story just has currently taken over my brain for the time being!


	6. Touch Me

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, Finn or Rachel. **

**Summary: A/U. College can be one of the toughest times in someones life. Can a new friendship make things easier? Finchel. slight Quick.**

**Rating: M. I figured just to be safe.**

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* * *

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**Chapter Six: Touch Me  
**

_Where I go, when i go there,_  
_ No more memory anymore-_  
_ Only men on distant ships,_  
_ The women with them, swimming with them, to shore..._

After the whole Thanksgiving Day parade debacle he had decided against admitting his feelings, at least right away. With the semester coming to an end and almost everyone on edge with finals, well he figured adding drama wouldn't be the best idea. He was trying to just be there, show that he did care. Yet, every so often he wondered if he should even bother, wondered if he should move on with his feelings, never try to be more than friends with her. It wasn't like there wasn't girls interested in him, because there was, he just didn't really think about it or them. Classes, music, work, all of it was keeping him pretty busy. Of course he still was able to find the time to sit and think about Rachel. He had made Kurt and Puck swear they would never speak a single word about going to the city that day. He was pretty sure that Kurt would keep his mouth shut, but Puck? He wasn't all that convinced. Even though Puck and Quinn were a rather confusing pair, he knew Puck told her just about everything. Okay, well as long it didn't have to do this his extracurricular activities when she wasn't around. The last thing he needed though was for Puck to tell Quinn, because even though they weren't the best of friends, Quinn and Rachel had been become closer. A large part of it was due to Finn would bring Rachel along on their hangouts, and everyone kind of just began to accept her as one of their own, to a point.

Work had been keeping his pretty busy, especially with the newest plays and shows taking place with the upcoming holiday season. The Nutcracker had just closed, and Kurt and Rachel's play only had like two more showings left, but the school rented out the theater on occasions and well the holiday season was a busy time it seemed. He ended up actually seeing Rachel's show on opening night, due to much persuasion by Kurt. Even though he knew if Rachel had asked him he would have said yes in a heartbeat. He actually got Quinn and Puck to go along with him, even though Puck tried his hardest to protest. Yet, with Rachel and Quinn's slow building friendship he figured it be better not to disappoint either girls and back out. Even though her role was rather small he was absolutely amazed how alive she became when she was on stage. To see her in her element like that, it really was an experience and it actually made him enjoy going to the play. At first he had been hesitant about it, but in the end with the help of Quinn he purchased flowers to Rachel, wanting to support her and show her he was proud of her. He had tried his hardest to ignore the glares he received from Jesse when he gave them to Rachel, hugging her with all his might.

Truth be told, he had absolutely no idea how Rachel and Jesse's relationship was going and he tried his hardest to act like he didn't care, even though he obviously did. He knew because of the play they would clearly be spending more time together, however, it seemed that whenever she had free time she was spending it with him instead. Every so often he fought the urge to ask about her relationship, sure as a close friend he knew it would be a polite thing to do, but the questions he wanted to ask weren't exactly 'polite' ones. Having finished her Friday evening performance she invited him over to hang out and just basically do nothing. He gladly accepted and headed upstairs as soon as he got the text that she was home. She ended up apologizing to him since she had ended up running out with Tina and Mercedes to get a late night bite at Cheesecake Factory before it closed, but he assured her it was fine. It actually was one of the first times he had been in Rachel's room for longer than five minutes. They had hung out in her room that day back in October and ended up cuddling, but that was before the whole Jesse becoming her boyfriend took place.

He was lounged out on her bed, her sitting with her legs under her on the inside of the bed. The only light in the room was the one on her windowsill directly next to the bed. His head was leaned back against the wall as he flipped through some playbill she had showed him, she was very adamantly talking about what plays she had taken in with her father over the Thanksgiving break. He was trying his hardest to pay attention, but sometimes Rachel had the ability to just lose him, probably without her even realizing it, "Really Finn, we should go into the city and see a play sometime."

"Huh?" Finn's eyes looked away from the thing in his hand to look at her, "I don't know.. I—I mean isn't that like something more that you'd like to do with Jesse?"

"Well-," she paused for a moment, "There isn't anything quite like your official official Broadway show, Finn."

Groaning softly he couldn't help but just crack a smile, "Maybe, only if it's a somewhat interesting play that I won't fall asleep during."

"Yay," Rachel clapped her hands together before throwing her arms around his neck in a hug, "I'll find the perfect play! I promise!"

Finn couldn't help but inhale sharply as her tiny frame molded against hers, it felt perfect, it felt right, "So are you glad tomorrows the last performances?"

With her face buried into his chest he wasn't sure what the expression on her face was, however it was hard to miss the sigh, "yes and no."

"Why both?"

Rachel broke away from the embrace as her eyes met his, "I was born to perform, Finn. It's what I live for. However, I'm glad that I'll have some down time to finish my Christmas shopping and hopefully get down to the city to see the window displays and all that."

He raised his eyebrow, "Aren't you Jewish?"

A small giggle escaped as she nodded her head and reached out to poke him in the nose, "Yes, but you are not, and well I need to buy your girt."

"You don't have to buy me anything, Rach," he told her honestly, especially since he hadn't even begun to Christmas shop.

But I want to silly," Rachel paused for a moment as she shivered slightly, "It's cold tonight."

"Well look at what you are wearing," he smirked as his gaze traveled down to her bare legs, "You're wearing a skirt and knee highs in the middle of winter, I highly doubt that's exactly warm." When he noticed the face she was making all he could do was laugh and motion for her to come closer, "Here, use my body heat."

Rachel only hesitated for a moment before she moved closer to Finn and laid down between him and the wall. She watched as he shifted his body so he was laying beside her, their faces looking directly at each other. Finn reached down and pulled her quilt over them before he pulled her closer. "Thank you," she whispered softly before burying her face into his chest.

"Don't mention it," he chuckled before reaching down to grab her leg and drape it over his own. His hand began to slowly but sure rub up and down her thigh to try and warm her up. "Do you ever wear pants?" he whispered softly into her hair.

Rachel poked him in the stomach before she shivered slightly, only this time it was from his touch, "Shush."

Without really thinking about it, Finn shifted his leg and raised it up so his thigh came to a rest right between her legs. he bit his lip as he felt the heat that emanated from between her legs. Taking a deep breath he figured it probably be the best idea to move his leg before he ended up getting too excited from it or something. However, just as he began to pull his leg away he heard her whimper and for some reason against his better judgment he pushed his leg back into her causing her to whimper again. He knew this was wrong but Finn couldn't stop himself, he began to pick up a slight rhythm with his leg as his hand continued to rub her thigh, going higher and higher each time. Soon enough the only sounds that could be heard were sounds of their breathing. Rachel was biting down on her lip to fight back the noises that were threatening to come from her throat. Why wasn't she stopping this? Did Finn not even realize what he was doing to her? Her stomach felt like it was on fire, but a good fire, if there could ever be such a thing. Instead of pulling away she found herself clutching onto his shirt and moving against him, small little whimpers escaping her lips as she listened to Finn's breathing.

Burying her face into his chest as much as she could she began to feel her body tense before she hit her breaking point and allowed it to wash over it. Finn's movements came to a halt as he just laid there, neither of them saying anything. He didn't no how long had passed as they just laid there, his eyes were focused on a poster of something called Wicked up on her wall as she stayed connected to his body. He wondered if he could feel his not so little problem against her stomach. Did that just really happen? Did he allow that to happen? Did ishe/i allow that to happen? Rachel's head was spinning, had Finn just realized what occurred? How did she even allow it to occur? She wouldn't let her own boyfriend who she had been dating for the last month do more than kiss her, but she just let someone she considered one of her closet friend share something intimate with her? God, she was just utterly confused.

"Rach?" His voice was soft, almost worrisome, "I uh- I should probably go."

Rachel lifted her head to look at him, that was the ilast/i thing she wanted him to do, "Could you- could you stay?"

Finn's eyes widened at her request, unsure what to say. Was that ireally/i a good idea? Honestly, he kind of wanted to get back to his room and deal with his own problem and well Rachel definitely just gave him something to work with. "You sure?"

She nodded as she snuggled into him, "You're just warm- and I don't you to have to run outside in the cold to get to your place."

It was kind of dumb, given that he lived downstairs and would be outside for a minute tops, "Yeah, sure, Rach. I'll just turn off the lamp." Finn moved his body so he was on his back, rolling his eyes when he noticed the blanket tent a little, that was just great. He shook his head before reaching over to turn her light off. "Not gonna lie, this will be the first time I share one of these beds with someone for an entire night since moving into the apartments."

Rachel giggled slightly as she rested both her hand and head on Finn's chest, "Me too." Soon enough they were both silent and Rachel began to let her eyes close, however something stopped her, something she wanted to say. "Hey Finn, I'm really glad we've become friends. I've really come to consider you one of my best friends over the last couple of months."

"Same here, Rach," he said softy as he wrapped his arm around her and leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her head. It really did mean a lot that she felt that way, but it definitely didn't exactly help the burn over the fact she had basically just put him in the friends zone. Especially after what had just taken place. God, what the hell was going on with him? And what the hell was so great about Jesse St. James that she was still with him?

* * *

He was completely and utterly lost in thought as he held his cheese steak firmly in his hands and stared off into space. The events of last night continually played throughout his head, had that all really taken place? Had he gotten Rachel Berry off without even meaning to? Well after a while that's what he meant, but she allowed it? God, would she tell Jesse? She didn't stop it though, so why would she? But if she did then all hell would break loose. His thoughts definitely weren't helping him feel bad. He had agreed to go to the dinner with Puck, Quinn, and Sam to grab some early dinner before some party, some party Finn had decided to decline an invite to. He hadn't said a word probably in the last ten minutes, and only ever so often would take a bite out of his sandwich. Quinn continually kept glancing at him, but figured he was just being Finn or something like that. Truthfully, she was having a lot more fun talking to Sam about something, although if she bothered to look at Puck he wasn't too amused by it. He was sitting there watching one of his friends basically flirt with his girl right in front of him. Did this dude completely forget about the whole bro-code thing? Then again, When did Puck ever pay attention to the bro-code.

Picking at his french fries he pretended to laugh at something Quinn and Sam pointed out before rolling his eyes and turning to Finn. What the hell was his deal? He was sitting here staring at god knows what, chewing with his mouth wide open as the cheese dripped down from his sandwich. "Dude, what the fuck is up with you today?" He asked as he leaned over and smacked Finn upside the head.

"What the fuck, dude?" Finn yelled as he dropped his sandwich and jumped slightly, not expecting the smack.

"You have basically been a zombie for the last 20 minutes, what the fuck is going on in that brain of yours?" Puck asked annoyed, even though it was more so at Sam and Quinn.

"yeah, man," Sam said turning to his side where Finn sat, "You're kind of not there today."

Finn shrugged his shoulders and picked up his sandwich again to take a bite, "I just got shit on my mind."

"Uh huh, like what?" Puck said with a sarcastic tone in his voice.

"Puck stop it," Quinn told him seriously before looking at Finn, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah yeah, it's nothing," he took another bite of his food and looked down.

"Yeah right, I know what it's about. You're thinking about Berry because you're like fucking in love with her," Puck said, which caused Finn to immediately glare at her.

"Rachel?" Quinn asked, but was quickly ignored.

"Dude, she's just my friend," Finn said sternly, "So shut your mouth."

"Oh yeah, that's why you fucking dragged me and Kurt out of bed at fucking dawn on Thanksgiving to go down to the stupid fucking Macy's day parade so you could admit your feelings to her, yep," he knew he was being an ass, but his bad mood was just there and he was taking it out on Finn.

"What the fuck, dude?"

"Wait what?" Quinn looked to Sam who looked completely confused before looking back to the other two, "i didn't hear about this? I mean Rachel didn't tell me-," well they weren't ithat/i close, but yeah.

"Well see we never found Rachel, because it was a fucking parade with thousands of people there! So we came home and now have to sit here and watch Finn pin over her cause she's with Jesse."

"You're a fucking dick, thanks a lot," Finn motioned for Sam to move out of the way so he could climb out of the booth. "You guys have fun at your little party," he pulled out his wallet and tossed down some cash before throwing on his jacket and heading out of the dinner.

The three remaining sat there in silence for a few moments before Sam finally spoke up, "Wait- he drove here with us."

* * *

It was over. The play they had worked so hard on the last week finally came to an end and she was both sad and thrilled. They had really worked their hardest and although her role wasn't anything big, she still poured her heart into it and believed she did a great job. She hadn't bothered to leave the theater at all since she arrived at noon that day, it was pretty much the same for all of them. Well except when they went to grab some food or when Kurt disappeared for 20 minutes, annoyed about something. She later came to discover that Finn had needed a ride home from the diner and was apparently in a really bad mood. The day had kept her busy and had kept her mind off of the events of last night pretty much, sure, every now and then she thought about it. Waking up in Finn's arms had been amazing and she couldn't help but blush at remembering what happened. It wasn't right though, she had Jesse and she allowed that to happen, she was honestly the worst girlfriend ever. She knew she had to figure things out, because the way Finn made her feeling, Jesse wasn't even coming close.

She was standing backstage dressed in a pair of leggings, a big black sweater and a pair of black moccasins. Her hair was pulled back into a bun with a thick black headband holding her bangs back. She was in the middle of a conversation with one of her classmates, both of them talking about how well the play seemed to go. When the girls boyfriend walked over Rachel quickly said her goodbyes before turning on her heel to see Jesse staring at her. He had a smile on his face as he walked over to her, however when she smiled back his began to fade. He admired Rachel, he truly did, sure, she could talk a lot and sometimes be a little diva, but he admired her. It was one of the main reasons he asked her out and while their relationship wasn't terrible, it wasn't what he thought it be.

"I know," he started as he came to a halt in front of her, "That I'm not the one."

Rachel furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but before she could say anything Jesse shook his head, "I'll never be the guy that makes you smile as much as he does. I'm not dumb you know, I see you when you're around him. I'm not going to lie and say I'm not jealous, because face it... I am. When I asked you to be mine I thought that would be enough, but I see it's not."

"Jesse I-,"

"You don't know what I'm talking about? Just think about it Rachel," he chuckled softly, but it was clear it was forced, "It's funny- People say I'm the big heart breaker, but really I think it's you." He reached up to cup her face, the pad of his thumb stroking her cheek, "We could continue this relationship and I could hope that eventually you'll think about me constantly and not him, but is that fair to either of us?" He shook his head before letting his hand drop, "I think it be better for us to end it now.. before we get to the point where we hate each other, because let me tell you, I do not want to try and get another apartment, cause that's just a whole lot of hassle I'd rather inot/i have to deal with. Plus year round housing ireally/i does make it easier since we don't have to move out our furniture during the winter break."

"I- what?"

"I'm getting off topic," he shook his head, "Rachel Berry, I no longer wish to be your boyfriend, and please don't cry because as flattering as it is, I know your heart wasn't into this. Truthfully, I'm not sure mine was either." He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead, pulling her to him in a hug, "I hope we can be friends, but understand if I avoid you for the time being. Now go get him." He stepped back and smiled sadly at her before turning on his heel and heading out of the room, leaving Rachel Berry completely and utterly speechless.

She ran out of the theater, completely ignoring her friends calling after he that she had left all her belongings. All that she cared about was getting to the other end of campus, even though she had no idea if Finn would even be at the apartment. She ignored the calls of the students as she ran by them, 'Where's the fire?' 'Run Forrest Run' she had no time to stop and glare at them. As she made her way through the Olde, she quickly came to a halt as she saw Quinn and Puck walking, she ran over to them, leaning over to try to catch her breath for a moment.

"Rachel?" Quinn raised her eyebrow at the girl in front of her, "Are you okay?"

She held her hand up as to say 'give me a minute' before standing up and putting her hands on her hips. Rachel tried to stay fit, she went for brisk walks and back home worked out every morning, but the cold air was definitely not helping her at the current time. "Where's Finn?" she asked completely out of breath.

"Uh," Quinn looked to Puck, neither of them had spoken to him since the diner.

"I think the apartment?" Puck said unsure, "Why?"

"I just need to talk to him, thanks," Rachel went to go on her way but Puck stopped her.

"Here, I highly doubt he'll open the door since he was in a mood earlier," he held out his keys, "it's this one."

"Thank you," She hugged Puck and Quinn quickly before taking the key and running the rest of the way to their apartments. If she had bothered to look back she would have probably laughed at the confused looks on Quinn and Puck's face. She didn't even bother to knock on the door and used Puck's key to open the door, of course that was only after she dropped the keys the first time. She really should have grabbed a jacket or gloves. Slamming the door behind her she threw Puck's keys on the kitchen counter and pushed Finn's door open to find him sitting in front of his computer in his pajamas.

He turned his head as he heard his bedroom door open, he was about to curse them out but then saw it was Rachel. She looked like she was out of breath and cold, "Rachel?"

"Finn- I-," She was trying her hardest to catch her breath as she leaned her hand against his door, "I—I"

"Are you okay?" he narrowed his eyes as he pushed his car back and turned his body.

"Yeah-," she nodded, "I just ran-" she stood up and pointed back, "From the theater."

"What?" he looked at her like she was crazy, "Why the hell would you do something like that?"

"I needed to tell you-," she paused, "It's fucking cold out."

He couldn't help but smirk, he had never heard her curse ever and he had a feeling it wasn't a normal occurrence either, "Well it's the middle of winter, Rach."

"Yeah, I should of- my feet. Damn," she shook her head, "Okay, my point.. I like you, Finn. I really really like you, and I've just been afraid to admit it."

His eyes widened as he just started at her, "What? What about Jesse?"

"We broke up," she felt a little dizzy from all the running, "Well he broke up with me," she was using her hands to talk and it was definitely confusing the hell out of Finn, "But I've known for a while it's you who I like- and yeah I mean I totally understand if you don't like me back, I don't want it to ruin our friendship and-," but before Rachel could say anything else Finn's lips were on top of hers. She hadn't even realized he had stood up, but apparently he did. He pulled Rachel to his body as his hand gripped the back of her head and he poured every feeling he had towards her into that kiss.

Pulling away, Finn grinned at her, "You don't know how long I've been waiting to hear you say that," licking his lips he chuckled slightly at the bewildered look on her face, "I like you, too," he leaned in and captured her lips in a sheering kiss before picking her up in his arms and carrying her over to his bed. Only if they both knew how much their thoughts were screaming 'finally!'

* * *

WELL? What did you guys think of this chapter? I hope it didn't disappoint. I would kind of LOVE LOVE 15+ reviews on this one? Pretty please with sugar on top? I definitely want to hear everyone's thoughts on this chapter!


	7. The World Has It's Shine

**A/N: Wow! You guys are amazing and I absolutely loved every single review i got for last chapter! This chapter is basically just Finn and Rachel to the max so I hope you like it! As always, I don't own glee!  
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**Chapter Seven: The World Has It's Shine  
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_I'm not one for love songs_  
_ the way I'm livin', makes you feel like giving up but you don't _  
_ and I want everything for you_  
_ the disappointed because you've been left behind and the word hasn't shine _  
_ I would drop it on a dime for you_

Since that night she basically had a smile permanently glued to her face. As soon as their lips touched it was as if all other thoughts were obsolete. After the confession had been made they had spent a majority of of the night cuddled together in his bed making out and talking randomly about anything and everything. Favorite movies, colors, the most random and meaningless stuff. And although there wasn't anything truly standing in their way anymore the two decided to keep it as casual as possible until there were back from winter break. It was mostly her idea, but he seemed to have no issues going along with it. It was just- even though they ended up decent terms and he even went as far as to tell her to 'go get him', she just did not want to rub things in Jesse's face immediately after. Actually truth be told, ever since that night she had barely seen Jesse around at all. A few quick passes on campus or in the theater, but that was about it. He never returned to the apartment that night to see, which the only reason she even knew was because her and Finn had stayed up until the sun rose. Finn had even confessed to her that Jesse was rarely at the apartment leading up to winter break. Yet, the few times he actually was he seemed nice enough, like he held no grudges towards Finn or her. Even with all that she felt bad about, she couldn't deny how everything with Finn felt absolutely amazing. Sure, they were clearly casual for those couple weeks, but that didn't stop the playfulness and hand holding or even the occasional making out.

When the time came to leave school and head home for a couple weeks, she actually was pretty bummed. Luckily though, she would only be home for a short while before heading back to campus, as well were a few others, including Finn. The perks of year round housing. While many other students could not be on campus given the dorms and such were closed, they were lucky enough to be able to be there no matter what. The campus would be practically deserted until classes started up again mid-January. There really was no reason for her to stay home with her dads the whole break anyway, sure there was the chance to sleep in her own bed, but it really didn't give her a good enough reason. She herself didn't celebrate Christmas and she had missed Hanukkah due to school. However, for Christmas she did try to bake for others and accompany her fathers to shelters to help serve food and everything like that. And she had made sure to make a special dinner for the three of them as their own little holiday celebration. It was during that time they noticed how much happier she was then when they saw her over Thanksgiving. Yet when she explained the reasoning was one Finn Hudson and not Jesse St. James, they were rather confused but didn't bug their daughter with questions. They just wanted her to be happy.

Her flight back to New York was on the 27th, and when she arrived back to Purchase she couldn't believe how deserted it was. Sure, she knew it was going to be, but there were probably 10 people on campus at tops by that point. Most of them being kids in driving distance who just did not want to suffer the break at their parents homes. Finn and Kurt would be flying back in the 29th. Both had jobs by school so they really couldn't take off for that long if they wanted them to still be there when they returned. However, from what Rachel could tell and from what he had said, Finn seemed excited about returning back to school. She hoped she was a part of that, but it was still rather early in there- casual thing to know if that was a reason. All she knew was that she was really excited about seeing him again. Being away from him made her realize she wanted more than something casual. She hadn't been far with her confusion when it came to Finn and Jesse, and maybe if she had just known from the get go Finn had feelings for her she would have never gone down the St. James road. Jesse was a nice guy and yeah she had an attraction to him, but looking back it really wasn't what she wanted. There was no reason for her to have been in a relationship where she had to convince herself to stay in it.

The first night back at Purchase had been pretty lonely, and well she wouldn't lie that it was kind of creepy being by herself in the apartment. None of her roommates would be back for a while, and while she didn't talk to anyone besides Quinn, it was still just eerily quiet. The only plus came the next day when she spent it cleaning the entire apartment from head to toe without getting in anyone's way. That night she snuggled into something comfortable and put some popcorn in the microwave. As she waited for it to pop, she found herself standing in front of the window looking out upon the snow covered ground. It was a rather beautiful sight and when she noticed a light dusting start to fall she couldn't help but let out a soft content sigh. The last thing she expected as to hear a knock at the door, she raised her eyebrow as she looked towards it. Walking over slowly she couldn't believe who she found on the other side.

"Finn?" her voice was unsure, "What are you doing here? Your flight wasn't till tomorrow I thought, I me-"

Before she was given the chance to say anything more, Finn stepped to her and pressed a deep kiss to her lips as his hands came to rest in her soft locks. Pulling away slightly, he couldn't help but give her his lopsided grin, "Surprise."

Shutting the door behind him, Finn walked further into the apartment and passed a bewildered Rachel, "Uh- I'm confused," she reached up to scratch the side of her head as she turned to face him, "You sent me a text saying you were going to the movies and out to eat with some reasons and now you're in New York standing in my apartment... care to explain?"

Smirking slightly he nodded, "Yeah, but first can we sit down? Kurt made me carry all his stuff to his place then made me walk all the way back here with my own luggage." Rachel nodded before grabbing his hand and leading him over to the couch. Slipping both his jacket and shoes off, Finn settled down against the corner of the couch as he waited for Rachel to sit down next to him. She settled into his side, sitting on her legs as she did so. As his eyes scanned her he couldn't help but smile at her attire. Oversized flannel pajama pants, a long sleeve form fitting sweater, god she was breathtaking no matter what, "You look adorable."

She couldn't help but blush, "No, I look a mess..," she reached up to push her bangs to the side, "i didn't expect to see anyone tonight, especially not you."

"Well, I think you look amazing," he brought his hand up to rest on her cheek before leaning in to kiss her.

Pulling away from him, Rachel gave a soft smile, "Now back to the topic of you being in New York, mister."

"Ah yes," he said with a chuckle, "Okay- so I didn't_ fully_ pay attention to Kurt but apparently he had to be back for something that takes place in the morning, I honestly think I heard the words 'big sale' but I could be wrong. _Anyway_, he spent all this morning on the phone with the airline trying to change our flight and well- it ended up working. And well, I decided I would surprise you rather than telling you."

"Well, it was a great surprise," she found it so sweet and simple that he wanted to surprise her like that. Leaning in she captured his lips in another kiss, it was something she felt she could easily become addicted to. The kiss only lasted a moment before she broke it and brought her hands up to cup his face, her eyes looking into his she smiled, "I don't want us to be casual anymore."

"Huh?"

Noticing the confused look on his face she pressed a soft peck to his lips, "I want to be your girlfriend."

"Oh!" Finn nodded finally catching on, "Yeah totally, I want that too." Without saying anymore, he pulled Rachel to him for a deep kiss. This time he had no intentions of making this a short kiss, and from the way she was responding he felt like she was obviously on the same page. Finn let his hands rub up and down her back, slowly making their way down to her legs. Wanting her even closer, he pulled her onto his lap and Rachel adjusted her body so she was straddling his waist. As the kiss began to progress, Finn could feel his jeans becoming tighter and couldn't help but moan when Rachel shifted her hips, what he assumed was unintentionally.

"I want you so bad," he whispered lowly between kisses.

Rachel's movements stilled as she pulled back from the kiss and stared at Finn, "Finn- I'm-," she began to grow uncomfortable and considered climbing off his lap for a moment, "I'm a virgin."

That was definitely not what he was expecting and Finn couldn't help but stare at her with a shocked expression plastered on his face, "Oh."

"Yeah," she nervously began to chew on her lip as she became more nervous, "Besides I-," she sighed softly as she looked to the side, "I think it's too early in our - and if that's all you want-,"

"Wait a minute," Finn sat up slightly, holding onto Rachel's hips so she didn't fall, "Rach, that is definitely not all I want. I just- when we were just kissing it felt so good and having you that close, my body responses.." he reached up to push some hair out of her face, "I want you to know though, I would never and will never push you to do something if you're not ready. If all we do is make out, that's totally fine with me."

Turning her gaze back to him, she couldn't help but smile slightly. They may have not known each other for years, and maybe they just officially began a relationship, but Rachel knew the words he spoke were true. "That really means a lot to me, Finn," she brought her hands up to rest on his shoulders before leaning in for a kiss, "I really like you, I hope you know that. Even if I tried to deny it and dated Jesse-," she noticed his slight frown at the mention of Jesse's name, "I'm not ready to have sex yet, I don't know when I'll be ready. However, I'm not a little girl- I know there's other things we can do between kissing and sex that's just-," she began to turn red and bit down on her lip as she looked down at her lip.

"Rach, don't be embarrassed."

"We can just- explore?" she shrugged her shoulders.

He wanted to chuckle at how adorable she was being right now, but given the topic he figured he better refrain, "As long as you are comfortable I'm willing to do whatever."

Slipping off of his lap to her original place besides him she snuggled into him and let out a soft sigh as she rested her head on his shoulder, "I think I'm going to like being your girlfriend."

* * *

As much as he enjoyed being home with his mom and step-dad, opening Christmas presents, and eating all his moms cooking, he couldn't help but miss Purchase for a few reasons. He wanted to be able to be in his own apartment with no one to tell him what to do, what to eat, what to wear, just where he could relax. His car was actually at Purchase and although he had made the drive between home and school before, for summer and stuff, he didn't particularly want to do that in the middle of winter. And then there was Rachel. When she came to his apartment the night of the play and told him that she liked him, for a brief moment he thought that he was dreaming and none of it was actually happening. He remembered her rambling and how cute she was, and the fact she was cursing just made him what to laugh. He actually had been pretty bummed out about keeping it casual at first, but he understood her reasoning... well mostly, she really seemed to like using big words.

He hadn't had a relationship since high school, sure he had been causal with girls at purchase before. Okay, it was a different type of casual then with Rachel, but still casual. He wasn't Puck though, he couldn't just screw girls all the time like it was nothing. Truthfully, he hadn't hooked up with a single girl since last year and he just was pissed at himself after he did it. He knew that Puck would probably make fun of him for committing to Rachel, but really? He liked her a lot and she was the first girl in a _long_ time he wanted an actual relationship with. He had felt pretty much like a dick when he found out she was a virgin. The last thing he wanted was for her to think that's all he wanted, because it wasn't. He had accepted the fact that he liked Rachel Berry a great deal, however, he had never expected to miss her as much as he did when he was at home for Christmas. He honestly hadn't ever really felt this way about a girl, especially after only knowing her for a couple months. Maybe it helped, them having gotten to know each other as friends first.

The surprise was something he had been hesitant about at first, of course that was only until he saw her. He figured it had worked and she wasn't mad a him, but why would she be? They had spent the majority of the night just cuddled up on her couch watching random things on television. When she realized she had completely forgot about the popcorn he couldn't help but laugh as she pouted and complained about it being all cold and getting that stale taste already. He ended up spending the night, it was the second time he had even done it and well the first time since they admitted their feelings. Sure, that first night they stayed up in his bed all night, but Rachel eventually went upstairs to sleep. The first time he had ever slept in her bed she was still with Jesse and it was after well- after he caused her to go over the edge with his leg. They hadn't spoken about it since it happened but now he definitely wasn't feeling so guilty over it having took place.

After a hearty helping of waffles in the morning Finn reluctantly left Rachel's place to his morning run and to do laundry. However, halfway through the run he was kind of regretting it. His knee was stiff as could be and when he finally made it back to his apartment he found himself limping as he went about doing his laundry. He didn't have work until the next day, which was one reason he was kind of glad they came back a night early. He had his apartment to himself for what he assumed was the rest of the week. Mike wasn't coming back until the beginning of January. Puck, he actually had no idea when Puck was coming back, and well obviously Jesse wasn't back and he had no idea when he would even show up.

Once he finished his laundry and all his shit was unpacked he headed back upstairs to Rachel's. A huge smile appearing on his face when he saw her skirt. God, he wondered if she knew how much those skirts tortured him, and god her legs. He had to take a deep breath to control himself, after last night he definitely didn't want to make her thing all he wanted was sex.

"So what do you want to do today?" Finn asked as he sat down with a wince. He propped up his leg up on one of the other chairs as he watched Rachel make hot chocolate.

Noticing his face when he sat down she just shrugged it off for a moment as she poured the hot water into mugs, "I figured we could hang around the apartment, maybe I can bake some cookies."

Finn's mouth began to water at the word 'cookies', "How did you know I love cookies?"

She smiled playfully, "I've seen you eat."

"Hey!" he pouted slightly as he watched her walk over with two mugs and took one off of her. Moving his leg off of the chair he winced for a second time before taking a sip of the hot chocolate.

"Finn?" Rachel settled down in the seat his leg was just occupying, "Are you okay?"

"Huh? oh- my knee's been bothering me since I went running," he said with a shrug, obvious disappointment in his voice, "Knee injury from high school, I was on the football team and messed it up."

After taking a sip of her hot chocolate she quickly rose to her feet and used her body to move the table forward so it was right up against the back of the couch. It probably helped that the table had wheels otherwise she probably wouldn't have been able to move it so easily. She snatched Finn's mug from his hand leaving him looking confused, "Go sit on the couch."

Raising his eyebrow he just nodded, "Uh okay."

Rachel waited until he did what he was told before following him over. Placing the mugs behind the couch on the table in a reaching distant for both of them, she smiled sweetly before lowering herself down onto the couch, "Give me your bad knee," she told him as she patted her lap.

Finn couldn't help but hesitate for a moment before lifting his leg across her lap. His eyes focused on her small hands as they began to rub the stiff section. He winced for a moment, biting down on his lip, but the pain only lasted for a moment before it actually started to feel good, "Rach, you don't have to do this."

"I want to," she said truthfully, a small smile on her lips, "So football?"

"Yeah, I played in high school... I was actually the star quarterback," he smiled proudly remembering a time that wasn't all that long ago, "I actually had scouts and all that interested in me, but yeah... I ended up fuc- screwing up my knee pretty bad that it just yeah."

She could hear the obvious pain in his voice no matter how much he tried to hide it, "I'm so sorry, Finn."

He let out a soft sigh before smiling at her, "It's fine, I really like studying music so it works out."

Rachel just nodded before a few moments passed, "If it hurts you- then why do you run?"

"Well-," he took a deep breath, "it doesn't bother me everyday, I mean it's always a little sore and all that. Just the weather makes it stiff and all that." He really wasn't in the mood to talk about it, sure he knew she meant well and all that, he just hated the memories it sometimes brought up.

"How many girls have you dated here at school?"

That was definitely a quick change of topic and one that he had not expected at all. Talk about something out of left field, "Officially?" she nodded softly, "Officially one. You," he noticed how her face lit up at him saying that, "I mean I've gone on dates with a couple of other girls in the past and hung out, but it was nothing serious and didn't amount to actual boyfriend/girlfriend stuff." He figured it be better to not mention that they were basically just hook ups, "What about you? Who else have you dated here besides me?"

"Jesse. And well I hung out with this one guy a bit but that didn't amount to anything. I'm pretty sure he was after one thing only," she shrugged her shoulders before she began to blush, "I actually only had one high school boyfriend."

He let her words sink in, god she was so innocent, but nothing was wrong with that. Rachel was a special girl and she deserved to be treated special. Truth be told, he wasn't exactly that experienced relationship wise. Sure he had a few and had one serious one in high school, but yeah that was it. "Come here."

Rachel scooted into Finn's lap after he moved his leg. A smile arose on her face before she spoke in almost a whisper, "You are so easy to talk to. It's like I've known you forever."

Finn brought his hand up and into her soft curls, loving the way it felt in his hand, "I know how you feel." They both moved in, their lips inches from each other but never truly meeting. Eventually their lips touched and soft sighs escaped both of them. He was so glad that his high school problem was easier to control now, especially when he began to nip at her bottom lip and the noises she made. God, he probably could have blew his load right there. He wasn't sure how much time had passed but he knew he could not get enough of her as their mouths continued to assault each other. He ran his tongue along her lips begging for entrance to her sweet warm mouth. He moaned softly as she allowed it and his tongue came into contact with hers.

She pulled at his hair, little whimpers escaping from her lips. She couldn't ignore the feeling between her legs, part of her so wanted him to touch her there but she was so scared at the same time. That night in her bedroom when it all had accidentally happened it had been thrilling but so scary at the same time, and that was only his leg! She could only imagine what it would feel like to have his fingers touching, just the thought set her on fire. She felt his hand at her side, he was fidgeting and she felt like he didn't know where he could put it. Breaking the kiss she leaned her forehead against his, both their breathing erratic. Rachel licked her lips softly as she grabbed his hand, and as she bit down on her bottom lip she raised his hand to rest on the side of her breast. He looked nervous, like he was afraid she'd break, "It's okay, I want you to."

Finn slowly began to move his hand, massing her breath slightly before he cupped her fully in his hand. He watched Rachel's face as she bit down on her lip harder. Okay, so he had noticed before that Rachel's boobs were on the smaller side, which of cause isn't a bad thing. Yet now with them here in his hand, he realized just how perfect they are for him. He nudged her forehead with his own before capturing her lips again. Feeling a little brave, Rachel shifted on his lap so she was now straddling. It wasn't the first time they had been in this position, just last night she was on his lap this very well, yet she was wearing pajamas and now a skirt that was no barrier from her underwear. At the new position Finn moved his other hand out of her hair and brought it to rest on her other boob, smirking as Rachel moaned softly into his mouth. There was no way she could not feel the tent in his pants, especially when she shifted slightly. The contact caused both of them to moan and as much as he wanted her he knew they were taking it slow, but she was the one that initiated this position so that was a good start. Wasn't it?

Before anything else could happen, they were suddenly interrupted by the sound of laughter coming through the front door followed by a 'Oh!'. Rachel and Finn broke away from the kiss and Rachel laid her eyes on Quinn and Sam standing in the doorway, both smiling widely. Finn turned his head as much as he could to meet their gaze as Rachel buried her face in his chest obviously embarrassed.

"I didn't know you guys were here," Quinn said sounding rather awkward, almost like she was caught doing something she shouldn't have been doing.

Sliding Rachel off of his lap, Finn turned to get a better look at them. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrow as he noticed how close Sam and Quinn were standing, "I didn't know you were back from break yet, Sam."

"Got back yesterday, I would have called you but I wasn't sure when you got back man," he laughed almost awkwardly.

Rachel cleared her throat and smiled towards her room before standing up and straighten her outfit, "I thought you were staying at your parents for the rest of the week, Quinn."

"Yeah, I was going to but they were getting on my nerves. I hope I wasn't interrupting things-," she gave a sincere smile as possible. Her and Rachel had become somewhat friends but she did feel rather awkward about just walking in on them, when Rachel's room was only a few feet away. She shouldn't talk though, her and Puck had made out on that couch numerous times.

"Not at all," she walked towards the kitchen and leaned her hands on the kitchen island, "We were just having hot chocolate and deciding on what movie to watch. Would you two like to join us?"

"We don't want to impose, I was just actually helping Quinn drop herself off and then we were going to grab a bite to eat. Did you guys want to go with us?" Sam asked looking between the two brunettes.

"Yeah, you guys should definitely come out, we can catch up and talk about our winter breaks," Quinn said smiling, and for some reason she really did want them to come.

"Finn?" Rachel turned to look at her boyfriend, smiling at the thought.

He nodded, "Sure, I could get go for some food." He stood up and walked over to Rachel, trapping her between him and the counter as he rested his arms next to hers. He mostly did it because he was still tenting a little after their make out session.

"Great! Let me just put this stuff in my room," she walked towards her room and she quickly opened the door with her key and headed inside.

"Let me go grab shoes," Rachel smiled as she pushed Finn back with her backside so he'd back out and let go her, "I'll be back."

Once both girls were in their rooms Sam headed over to Finn, "So you guys- dating yet?"

Finn couldn't hide his smile as he quickly nodded his head, "As of last night." He wanted to ask him what he was doing with Quinn, but he knew how matter he worded it it wasn't going to come out right. Once the girls were back the four of them headed down to Sam's car and drove to the diner to get some food. He didn't tell Rachel, but he had basically spent the entire meal watching his best friends girl and their friend. Puck was not going to like this at all.

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So what did you guys think of this chapter? It's pretty simple but I thought it was a nice input. I'd love to get like 20+ replies again before my next update. MUCH LOVE!


	8. Can't Be Saved

**A/N: **As always you guys are amazing! I honestly love reading all your reviews and I wish I could sit here and thank every single one of you but that would take forever! You guys are all amazing and it's because of you i continue to write this.**  
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**Chapter Eight: Can't Be Saved  
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_Follow your bliss, it reads on my chest._  
_ I know I got it tattooed for a reason._  
_ Why can't I just hold it true?_  
_ 'Cause I'm still crashing all the funerals _  
_ Of these people that I never knew. _  
_ Yeah!_

Last year he didn't bother to return from the winter break so soon. However last year he didn't have year round housing so the option wasn't actually there, but if it had been would he have returned so swiftly? He actually preferred the option to stay on campus, and he knew that once spring break came around it would be even better. Winter break brought on the departure of students who finished early and sometimes even the arrival of other students who started a semester late. Spring break was what he wanted, sure the weather wouldn't be _that_ much warmer, but it would be getting there. Aside from the students who had apartments on campus, everyone else would be gone, the campus closed off to them. It was similar but different in many ways. He just enjoyed the time off from classes. For now though, for now he would be focusing on getting through the last days of December. Getting through New Years Eve. He didn't know how or when it actually happened, but somehow it was agreed they would allow Kurt to drag them to the city to see the ball drop. He wasn't exactly looking forward to the crowds, but then again wasn't he the one that dragged his stepbrother and best friend to the city in the middle of the Thanksgiving Day parade to find Rachel? Which well didn't actually work out since he didn't find her, but that was besides the point. This was about going on New Years Eve. This time it was going to be in the middle of the night and the children at the parade were going to be replaced by drunken adults.

From what he could tell she seemed both excited and scared and well he kind of felt like he could understand. It would be six of them, him, Rachel, Kurt, Tina, Quinn and Sam. Those particular two had been on his mind lately, even if he hadn't let anyone know. In some ways they kind of reminded him of Rachel and himself before they finally admitted their feelings. Of course he knew very well Noah Puckerman was no Jesse St. James. Then again Jesse and him weren't friends, they were somewhat 'friendly' in the roommate sense, but Sam and Puck were friends and he felt like that made it a different situation? He wasn't entirely sure. The night when Quinn came back and the four of them attended the diner, he wasn't dumb, they were flirting. Okay, sure he knew he flirted with Rachel when she was with Jesse, but it wasn't like they were flirting in front of Jesse's friends. He didn't really know what to think whatsoever.

He had spent most of the 30th working, which actually worked out for him given the fact he needed money after having spent a bunch of Christmas gifts and all that. It did suck on the scale that he wanted to spend as much time with Rachel before classes started back up, however it wasn't the worst thing ever. He really felt comfortable in her presence, like he could be himself and she wouldn't judge him. Truth be told, he usually wasn't a guy that thought about the future of a relationship at all. However, he knew he wanted to try to make this one with Rachel last for a good amount of time. Since getting back he had slept at her apartment every night, given he had only been home a couple days. He'd say it was because he was too tired to walk downstairs, but really he liked the feeling of her body against his. Each and everyday they learned a little more about each other. She apparently found it absolutely adorable that he really was clueless in the kitchen. Sure, he could cook some things, things he had been basically raised cooking, but otherwise? He was clueless. When he told her he had once burnt toast she had busted out in the most adorable fit of giggles that he ever thought was possible. Once she was done she gave him a kiss and told him she would teach him how to cook.

They had all decided to head down to the city early evening in hopes of avoiding some crowds. Given what day it wasn't he knew very well it wouldn't be _that _avoidable. No one was crazy enough to drive into the city so they all took the metro-north down and luckily they were able to find seats without looking that hard. He had immediately chosen one of those four-seaters in order to stretch his legs out on the other seat. She was animatedly talking about something but all he could really notice was how adorable she looked. She had been adamant about wearing a skirt, even though both him and Quinn told her it was going to be cold. She told them she knew very well what it was going to be like and still wore one. A long sleeve turtleneck, her skirt, stockings and a pair of flats. Her redcoat looking amazing against her skin tone with her white knit hat on her head. He couldn't help but smile before cutting her off mid-sentence to give her a kiss.

Rachel couldn't help but blush as Finn pulled away and leaned back against his seat, "Why did you do that?"

"Do I need a reason to kiss my girlfriend?"

Rolling his eyes Kurt made a gagging sound, "The cuteness is seriously going to make me barf."

"Shut up," Finn muttered as he shot a look towards his stepbrother. Kurt was sitting in the other row but in front of them with Tina, the two were talking about something that Finn really had absolutely no interest in. Before turning his attention back to Rachel he noticed Quinn resting her head on Sam's shoulder as he stared out the window. He knew it could be completely harmless and he had no right to care, but weren't him and Rachel exactly like that? The thing was- did Sam like Quinn? He didn't think it was his place to ask and he really wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt Rachel nuzzle her face into his neck, "You okay?"

Turning his head to look at her he cracked a smile, "Yeah totally, I'm good.. I'm good, babe." He took her hand in his and gave it a little squeeze.

Once the train pulled into the station and they stepped off they were all immediately thrown into the crowds of New York City. Finn remembered the first time he went to the city, he was like overwhelmed by all of it. Now though with having lived in New York for two years because of school he had basically gotten use to it. Even though they had yet to walk out of the terminal yet, Finn held Rachel's hand tightly and kept her as close as possible as they briskly walked passed people. They were all a little hungry and figured it be the best bet to eat something before standing in the middle of Times Square for a few hours. Knowing it be absolutely ridiculous to try and find a restaurant Kurt suggested just going downstairs to grab food from the food court. They knew it'd be somewhat packed but there were a bunch of different places to pick from. After everyone was able to get something to eat the group realized how difficult it was to find a table that would fit all six of them. Luckily they spotted a table for four and Sam hijacked a chair, but that still only left them with five chairs and six people. Knowing very well that Kurt would never let Tina sit on his lap and not wanting to give Sam and Quinn the option, Finn quickly sat down and pulled Rachel down on his lap, surprisingly her as he did so.

"Oh!" she rested her hand over her heart, "Warn me next time." She turned to look at Finn and couldn't help but smile before pressing a kiss to the tip of his nose.

Choosing to ignore Kurt's eye roll, he just smiled and picked at his food. Everyone spoke idly over topics that he kept blocking out. He let out a small yawn and closed his eyes as he rested his head on Rachel's shoulder. He probably should have taken a nap earlier, but he had been far too interested in beating the current level on his video game. When he heard Kurt say his name he quickly lifted his head and looked at him, "Hm?"

"You never change," Kurt smirked as he picked at his salad, "I asked you if you liked what I got you for Christmas?"

"Oh," he cleared his throat and nodded, "Yeah, it was a good gift, man. I already thanked you on Christmas though."

"What did he get you?" Rachel raised her eyebrow as she moved her body slightly to look her boyfriend in the face, "I don't think you ever told me."

"Two tickets to a Knicks game in March," He brought his hand up to scratch the back of his neck as he yawned again.

"That's awesome, dude!" Sam said perking up, "Who are you bringing?"

Finn just shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, I mean- March is still a couple months away." He had a pretty good idea that Sam probably wanted to come and although they were friends he knew Puck would probably want to come as well. However, he'd probably want to bring Rachel, which was amusing since he was pretty sure she wasn't big on sports. He'd just figure out as the time got closer.

"Really, Finn is so difficult to shop for so I figured, basketball.. why not?" Kurt smiled before turning to Tina and getting into a deep conversation about hair products.

Eventually they all finished and figured it was time to venture into the cold streets of the city. Taking their sweet time to get to Time Square, they basically strolled, stopping randomly at stores and stuff. As excited as this was at the same time he kind of felt like being home, with it on television, having good and friends and alcohol would have probably been a better choice for him. Yet, seeing the smile on Rachel's face was really making it all worth it. If he thought long about it, he had never done things like this with his exes or any other girls he really hung out with. Usually they never wanted to do anything that could be considered a small adventure, nor did they_ ever _want to do anything that was a suggestion of his stepbrother. He actually was quite glad that Rachel and Kurt were friends, it made it easier for him. It was like even though the relationship was honestly extremely new, he wanted to try to make it worthwhile. It was a new experience for Finn Hudson and he was looking forward to seeing it all play out.

The night moved not exactly rapidly but at a steady pace. Kurt began to complain how he should have booked them a hotel because there was far too many people there. Finn just rolled his eyes and made a 'you think?' type comment before he realized he had to pee really bad. All of them not wanting to move again Finn and Rachel separated from the group to find a Starbucks, since Rachel was in the mood for coffee. After waiting on a 25 minute line to just get into the building Finn disappeared to the bathroom for probably 10 minutes, because of course their had to be a line there as well. Eventually he found Rachel who was still on a line, inside this time. The two chatted about random stuff until she got herself a latte or something and Finn ended up with a hot chocolate.

As he opened the door for her to head out of the building he let his eyes fall on her legs, "You sure you gonna be warm?"

Turning on her heel, Rachel faced him with a huge smile on her face, "Yes, I am completely warm, baby," she noticed how he smirked at the name. It was the first time she referred to him as 'baby', actually it was the first time she referred to _anyone _as baby. It usually wouldn't be a name for Rachel to use, however, with Finn she felt like it fit.

"Really?" he raised his eyebrow and looked her up and down, "I don't want you freezing, Rach."

"Finn Hudson," he narrowed her eyes at him, "I'm fine... but thank you for caring," she brought her hand up to rest on his face before kissing him softly. "I was going to try to wait until midnight to kiss you again, but I don't think I can last that long."

"I'm glad," he gave her a lopsided grin and pulled her in for another kiss. Wrapping his arm protectively around her waist, the couple headed over to find their friends, which definitely took them a lot longer than they had hoped. As they all waited for the ball to drop and talked about random things, he couldn't help but let his focus land on Rachel. He was honestly starting to feel that being with her was the best decision he had made in a long time.

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Exhilarating. That was the perfect word to describe the whole experience. At least she believed so. Being able to ring in the new year with her friends while kissing her boyfriend in the middle of New York City? Exhilarating all right. The train right back up to school had been completely and utterly packed to the point some people were even standing. Luckily, they had got there decently early and were able to snag a couple seats. Mostly due to the fact that ran to the next train instead of the other one, which seemed everyone and their mother had been trying to get on. She was beyond exhausted, usually ready for bed by this time on any other night. It wasn't ten minutes into the ride that she had snuggled up against Finn and fell asleep. She wasn't _exactly _sure, but she was sensing something was bothering Finn all day. She noticed how at times he seemed almost distracted, and all she could hope was she hadn't done anything to cause it.

Once they were back on Purchase grounds the group disbanded after saying their tired goodbyes. Much to her pleasure, Finn had informed her he was crashing in her room, which definitely made her believe maybe she was over-thinking how he was acting earlier. Besides, Rachel really didn't want to sleep without him, and although she knew this wouldn't be a every night occurrence soon enough, she wanted to treasure it while she could. He had the ability to make her feel safe, he made her feel things she honestly thought she'd never be able to feel.

After saying goodnight to Quinn, they headed into her bedroom and Rachel quickly grabbed a pair of pajamas out of her dresser before heading into her bathroom to change into them. As much as she liked her boyfriend, she was entirely ready to strip down in front of him quite yet. After throwing her hair up in a messy bun, washing her face, and brushing her teeth she headed back into her bedroom to fit Finn sitting there in just his jeans and a t-shirt. "Get up," she said in a yawn, using her hand to prove the point, "Take your jeans off."

Finn pushed himself up from the bed and looked at her confused, "Excuse me?"

"Finn, every night that you have slept over you have worn jeans to bed. Is that _even _comfortable?"

He let out a sigh as he reached up to scratch the back of his neck, "Not really."

Rachel let out another yawn as she shut her bedroom door and flipped the light switch, causing the only light to be the lamp next to her bed. Heading over to her bed she pulled her covers down before looking towards her boyfriend, "Then take them off, I want you to be comfortable." Noticing a blush arise on his face she couldn't help but smile, "Come on?" she climbed into her bed and watched him.

Taking a deep breath, Finn slipped his jeans off and kicked them to the side. He didn't know why but he felt embarrassed standing there in front of her in his boxers, thankfully he had a shirt on as well. He bit his lip for a moment before shutting off her lamp and climbing into bed with her. They both laid down and he pulled her close to him, "Night, babe."

Even though it was so late and Rachel was dying to just go to sleep, she couldn't, not yet anyway, not when something was on her mind, "Finn, was something bothering you today?"

Her voice had been so soft, however, he still heard every word that came out of her mouth. Letting out a sigh he rolled onto his back and ran his hand through his hair, "It's really dumb."

Rachel squinted her eyes slightly as she leaned up on her elbows, "If it's bothering you... then it's not dumb."

"I just-," I groaned slightly, "I'm wondering if somethings going on with Quinn and Sam. It's like not bothering me because like- I care or anything like that." he didn't know why, but he felt the need to let her know that ,"I just know Puck would freak out over it."

Rachel stayed quiet for a few minutes, and if Finn didn't know she was perched up on her elbows, he honestly would have thought she had fallen asleep, "They do seem rather cozy with each other, but maybe they are just really close friends?"

Finn turned his head to look at his girlfriend, well to the best of his ability in the dark. He reached his hand out and began to play with her hair, "They kind of remind me of us... like before now, back when you were dating Jesse and stuff."

Pursing her lips, Rachel thought it over for a moment and could how how he was able to make the comparison, "How do you think Noah will react?"

"Not so well."

Nodding all she could was let out a sigh, "Quinn isn't officially his though. Maybe she's trying to make Noah jealous on purpose." By the silence she had a feeling Finn was confused and decided to continue, "I mean like- maybe she feels like if she makes him jealous then he'll finally 'man up' and ask her to be with him exclusively."

"Exclusively. That's what we are, right?"

"Yes," she smiled sweetly, "It means like only yours. Did talking about this help?"

"I guess," he just shrugged, "I really hope Puck doesn't freak, I don't want to deal with it."

Rachel laid her head down on his chest and began to draw little circles on his shirt covered chest, "We can only hope for the best. Now try to get some sleep."

Finn brought his hand to rest on Rachel's back and let out a yawn, "Night, babe."

"Night," she let out another yawn, "And isn't it so much better sleeping in your boxers?"

Gulping slowly he nodded even though she couldn't see it, "Totally." Of course it wasn't going to help his problem from popping up when he body was formed to his. It was moments like this he wished the thing didn't have a mind of it's own.

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Sleeping in the following day was inevitable. Rachel was the perfect example of an early riser, while Finn loved to get as much sleep as humanly possible. Today, though, today that didn't matter. Both of them had their heads buried into her mattress trying to catch as much sleep as they could after the previous nights events. Of course, as much as they wanted to sleep soon enough both of them began to stir. There was a reason for this though, at first it was just a mumbled noise, but as Rachel began to wake up a little more she realized what it was. It was yelling. Sitting up she looked over Finn (who had his head buried under one of her pillows), and glanced at her clock. It was 11:45. God, she was still exhausted. Her head shot up when she heard another shot coming from the kitchen.

"Finn," she said shaking him, "wake up."

"no," he grumbled and wrapped his arm around her waist, "lets sleep so more."

Rolling her eyes she tried to wiggle from his grasp, "Wake up, something's happening."

Lifting the pillow he looked up at her, "What do you mean?"

Before Rachel was even able to open her mouth another shout came from the other room and she motioned her hands towards it, "That."

Finn pushed himself up in bed and groaned, "Fuck, that's Puck."

Rachel swatted Finn on the arm, "Don't curse!"

Rolling his eyes he reached up to rub his arm where she had just hit him, "Fine."

The fighting started to become louder and the two of them just stared at each other. Rachel's eyes widened, "oh my god! You don't think he found Quinn and Sam in her room?"

Finn stared at her girlfriend like she had two heads, "I highly doubt it, unless Sam snuck in here in the middle of the night."

They there for about ten minutes listening to the muffled argument. They were able to make out something about facebook, Sam, Kurt, City, Pictures. Yeah, they weren't sure what was going on. Ten minutes soon turned into twenty and Rachel began to wiggle around causing Finn to eye her curiously, "When are they going to be done?"

"Why are you like dancing?"

"I have to pee!" Rachel quickly threw her hand over her mouth, "Oh my god, that was so unladylike of me!"

"You know, this reminds me of that Friends episode where Ross slept with that girl when Rachel and him were on the break and like Joey, Chandler, Phoebe, and Monica were looked in the bedroom and had to eat wax."

She couldn't help but smirk, "You watch Friends?"

"My mom does," he shrugged his shoulders, "How bad do you have to pee?"

"Really bad," she continued to wiggle.

Finn nodded and slipped off the bed and held his hand out, "They have to realize we are here, or at least you are." Finn lead Rachel open to the door and opened it up, which as soon as they did everything went silent. Walking out of Rachel's bedroom, Rachel darted to the bathroom and Finn let his gaze fall on Puck and Quinn in the middle of the kitchen. Puck looked pissed and Quinn obviously had been crying at some point during the argument because her eyes were all red.

Puck let his gaze fall on Finn and chuckled, "Nice boxers, man."

"I didn't realize you were back."

"Yeah, I drove in this morning- better sooner than later," he turned his hard gaze back to Quinn, "Right?"

Quinn didn't say anything, she just looked at Finn and mouthed the words 'I'm sorry'. The bathroom door opened and Rachel hesitantly came out. "Morning," she gave Quinn and Puck a small wave before slipping her hand into Finn's.

"So you finally banged Berry, huh?" Puck asked with such distaste in his voice.

"Wow," Finn rolled his eyes, "What's your problem?"

Puck let out a snarling laugh, "My problem? I'm pretty sure you _already _know my problem? See, Sam and Quinn were looking a little too fucking cozy for my liking in these photos on Facebook that your fag-,"

"Shut the fuck up!" Finn said immediately cutting Puck off, "I'm sorry if you and Quinn are having issues, but really-," but before he could say anything, Puck was in his face.

Rachel could see how tense Puck was by just looking at him and when she saw how upset Quinn looked she knew this wasn't going to get better anytime soon, "Noah, I think it's best if you leave." She reached out to touch his arm, hoping to sooth him, she was wrong though.

Puck turned his head to hers and whipped back his arm, "Don't fucking touch me."

Finn put his hand on Puck's chest and pushed him back lightly, "Just leave, man."

"Whatever," Puck held his hands up before looking towards Quinn, "Go have fun with Sam... after I am fucking through with him that is." He pushed passed Rachel causing her to crash into Finn who luckily caught her. Puck quickly turned on his heel to look at look at Finn. "Thanks for being a real friend, man!" The sarcasm was dripping from his voice as he headed out of the apartment and slammed the door behind him.

Quinn let out a soft sob before letting herself sink to the floor, "Fucking asshole!"

Rachel and Finn exchanged a quick look before Rachel went over to Quinn and put her hand on her knee while Finn retreated back to Rachel's bedroom, "What happened?"

"I don't even know! I guess Kurt posted photos from yesterday? And he thought Sam and I looked a little too cozy," she groaned as she leaned her head back against the cabinet, "I know I've been hanging out with Sam a lot lately, and yeah it's been nice and all that. I just," she groaned, "I don't know? I guess I wasn't thinking."

Rachel nervously bit her lip, "Nothing happened with Sam and you, right? Because then Noah shouldn't-,"

"Nothing happened. I just don't get Puck at all sometimes. He says he cares about me, but then why won't he be with me? And I'm not dumb, I see how he flirts with other girls and for all I know he probably sleeps with others. I put up with it for some reason." Quinn pushed herself to her feet and wiped her eyes as she watched Rachel stand, "I think I'm going to take a shower and just go for a walk. I'm really sorry you and Finn had to witness that. Some start to the new year!"

She watched as Quinn headed into her bedroom to grab her shower stuff and she honestly just felt so bad. Clearly Finn's worries had been right all along.

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Keep the reviews coming! Also, who else is in love with next weeks cover of Just The Way You Are? I'm not even a fan of the original but I like this one.


	9. Breathe Me

**A/N: **Hey all! Sorry about not having updated lately, life got a little hectic! I hope you guys like this chapter. The last one wasn't my favorite so I hope this one is better! It's a little on the shorter side!**  
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**Chapter Eight: Breathe Me  
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_Help, I have done it again _  
_ I have been here many times before _  
_ Hurt myself again today_  
_ And, the worst part is there's no-one else to blame _

Snoring. Not a loud and persistent one, but still it was a form of snoring, the little noises escaping as they took a breath. It was too late to be awake, the almost dead silence (aside from her boyfriends snoring that is) made that perfectly clear. She blinked a few times before letting her eyes become focused in the dark room. She looked at him to the best of her ability, on his back, his right arm over his eyes and his left hand resting on her lower back as she snuggled into his side. When classes had started back up in January their sleepovers became limited, and whenever the chance to have one she definitely made sure to take it. She couldn't believe how fast January had went, then again, she couldn't believe how fast February was going. Sitting up slightly, she glanced over at his clock to see it was 3 am, meaning it was now the 20th. Had February even been an enjoyable month for her? Classes were definitely stressful, the time she got to spend with Finn building their romance wasn't always easy to attain, but they managed. Living mere few away from each other definitely helped the situation immensely. They had celebrated a simple but sweet Valentines Day together. Dinner, movies, snuggling up on the couch, a charm for the charm bracelet he saw on her dresser he had seen one day. The relationship was still so new, and although, she knew very well she had the ability to be overwhelming in certain aspects, it had proved to be an enjoyable day.

Pushing herself up completely, she licked her lips and decided that she was definitely not going to be able to get back to sleep unless she got a drink or something from the kitchen. She had been extremely grateful that Finn had offered to lower his bed just slightly in order to make it easier for her to get up and down. Yes, it was still high, but she understood he stored things under there and really had no where else to put them in his room. Climbing over his legs she lowered herself to the floor and quietly slipped out of his room, closing the door gently behind her in hopes to not wake him up. Rolling her eyes as the living room light popped on, having completely forgotten that they were sensor lights in her tired state. She quietly made her way over to the fridge and pulled out a pitcher of water and grabbed a clean cup from the cabinet. Of course, she made sure to inspect it first, since over the past couple of months she had come to terms with the fact the boys definitely weren't the cleanest. Once she felt the cup was okay, she placed it on the counter and began to pour her water. Her attention was quickly drawn towards the bathroom door when she heard a toilet flush. Assuming it was either Puck or Mike she was able to turn her head when the door opened.

Jesse. She certainly had seen Jesse in passing since he came back from his break, however, the two didn't really converse. Most of the time she felt like it was easier for Finn to stay at her apartment to avoid the awkwardness, but sometimes they were just too tired to walk up the stairs. "Hi," she blurted out suddenly, not really thinking it through, "I'm getting something to drink."

He stood there for a moment, his eyes furrowing before nodding, "I can see that," walking slowly towards the counter, "I was just using the bathroom." Jesse let his eyes look over and nodded, "From you attire I am going to guess you are staying over with your boyfriend."

Rachel let her gaze fall to her outfit and couldn't help but bite her lip. She was dressed in a pair of Finn's boxers he had never worn and she deemed hers on sleepovers, with one of his t-shirt's over it. "Yeah," she looked back up at him, "We were watching a movie and I decided to just sleepover." Why was she explaining herself to Jesse?

He nodded as he went and grabbed a cup and waited for her to finish pouring her own glass, "So how are you been? We've rarely talked lately."

Licking her lips she handed him over the pitcher, "I've been good. You?"

"Really good, busy," he said nodding, "Last semester, workshops, all that stuff, heading out to L.A. In a few weeks with the group. You definitely have a lot to look forward to next year," he said with an almost forced chuckle.

"It will be great," he said going into her little diva mode, "I mean I was born for this type of stuff."

"Does he even appreciate you?"

Rachel's eyes widened at the sudden question that came out of absolutely no where, "Excuse me?"

"Your talent, does he even appreciate it?" Jesse asked almost as if he was asking if she wanted a glass of milk.

"Uh," she shook her head, "of course he does, but I really don't understand why you are asking."

"I thought we were friends," he shrugged his shoulders before taking a sip of water, "Then again, can exes ever _actually_ be friends?"

Maybe she was just too tired, but she honestly had no idea what Jesse was getting at, "I have no problem with us being friends."

"Uh huh," he smirked almost playfully, "You know what I find amusing? You would _never_ sleepover when we were dating, but you and your giant of a boyfriend have sleepovers all the time, I guess he's just just _that_ much better than me."

His tone wasn't sad though, almost sarcastic, which caused Rachel to feel unbelievably awkward standing there, "I think I should go to bed. It's late and I think Finn and I have plans in the morning." Okay, so it was probably a lie, but she just kind of felt like escaping the situation would be a lot better than just standing there.

"I don't mean to upset you," he reached out and put his hand on her cheek, "I fully understand that you didn't connect with me, but will he never see you for the star you deserve to be treated like?"

Just as Rachel was about to open her mouth, a door open and out walked Puck, who stopped suddenly, his eyes narrowing at the scene in front of him. "Goodnight, Jesse." She backed away from his touch and quickly retreated back to Finn's room. Taking a huge gulp of her water, she put the cup down on his desk and started to climb back into the bed. However, what she had not expected was for Finn's hands to grab her waist and hoist her right onto him in a straddling position.

"Hey," he said groggily, a small yawn escaping his lips, "I was wondering where you went to."

Staring down at him in the dark she couldn't help but wonder if he had heard the conversation between her and Jesse, "I just went and got a drink of water."

"Oh," he yawned again as he kept his hands secure at her sides, "Well, I'm glad you're back. I rolled over and you weren't there, kind of worried me."

She found him absolutely endearing, especially in moments like this. Leaning in, Rachel pressed a soft kiss to his lips before going to move to lay down, however, Finn wasn't having it and kept her in place, "Aren't you going to let me lay down?"

Finn tiredly shook his head, "Nope, I like you right here," reaching up he pulled her face to his and captured her lips. This wasn't a simple goodnight kiss, no, this was a kiss full of want and desire. As his hands came up to rest in her hair and the kisses became more urgent, Rachel couldn't help but let out a moan. On some level things were still pretty innocent between them. Sure, there was the kiss and Rachel allowed Finn to have the occasional boob graze, but otherwise still on the innocent side. However, that of course didn't mean Rachel was blind to the fact her boyfriend got very turned out during their make out sessions. The budge that was in his pants made it very clear, and on nights where they were both only wearing rather thin bottoms, she definitely wasn't able to miss it.

All it took was a simple shift of his hips and Rachel could feel something in the pit of her stomach, something that she tended to feel during many of their make out sessions. However, it was a feeling she more prominently remembered from the first time she slept over, the time she actually was _not_ single. It was harmless and exciting all at the same time. Rachel couldn't help but shift her hips against his, which in turn caused both of them to groan and before she knew it Finn had flipped Rachel so she was laying on her back and the two were still lip locked. As her hands found their way into his hair, Finn's right hand traveled down and began to play with the hem of the shirt she was wearing, before finally slipping under. However, instead of his hand going north, he finger tips lightly grazed the skin above the boxers she was wearing before slowly pushing the boxers down just slightly. Rachel tensed for a moment and the kiss was broken. There were no words spoken, only looks, looks of permission and Rachel gave Finn a nod before their lips returned to one another.

Slowly, Rachel felt Finn's hand slip into her bottoms and ever so lightly his fingers grazed her through her underwear. He began to do this repeatedly, slow grazes as first, then soon enough the pressure increased and Rachel began to whimper at the feeling running through her. Finn let out a little groan as he pulled his lips away from hers and brought them to the crook of her neck, "you're so wet, babe. I can feel it.." moving his and back up he slipped it into her panties and began to once again run his fingers through her wetness, only this time there was no cloth between his fingers and her center. Rachel bit down on her lip and before she knew it Finn was slipping a finger into her. Slowly at first, in and out, then he began to pick up a little pace.

"Uhh," she groaned softly before biting her lip harder, her hips began to move slightly against his finger. Finn went between watching her face and what he was doing and kissing her neck. Soon enough another finger slipped in and Rachel could swear the only sound that could be heard was her heavy breathing.

Licking his lips, Finn watched her before glancing down to see his hand hidden in her bottoms, "Do you like that?"

Gulping she nodded frivolously as she brought her hand up to rest on the back of his neck, "Yes... _oh_ god."

She didn't know how long had passed, but the next thing she knew her body was tensing and this immense wave of pleasure was running through her body as Finn continued his ministrations. Slowly slipping his fingers out of her, he smiled and leaned down pressing a kiss to her forehead, "You okay?"

Rachel could swear that her face was probably beat red as she brought her hands up to hide her facing causing him to chuckle and trying to pull her hands away, "That was-," she peeked through her fingers and gave him a shy smile as she finally lowered her hands, "Amazing."

"I'm glad you thought so," leaning forward he kissed her softly, "Didn't hurt, right?"

"Not really, too good to hurt," Rachel rolled over and buried her face in the pillow. She didn't know why she was so embarrassed, he _was_ her boyfriend after all. After a few moments she rolled onto her side and was face to face with Finn. Leaning in she pressed a soft kiss to his lips and snuggled up against him. Neither of them said anything more, they just silently snuggled and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

One thing that he hated more than anything when it came to his bed, was his ability to practically fall out of it with Rachel in it or not. He swore that when he got older and moved out on his own he was buying himself a king bed or something like that so these things wouldn't happen. Luckily, today wasn't a full on fall, more of his leg started to fall and before the rest of his body did he caught himself. It was during those moments he wondered if he maybe should just lower his bed as far down as it could go, it would stop from him actually hurting himself when it was a full-fledged fall. Then again, he kind of needed the storage room. The alumni apartments were newer, a lot better in a bunch of ways, but the bedrooms were in fact smaller, hence making the bed have the ability to go higher and lower.

After almost falling, he pretty much knew he wasn't getting back to sleep and decided to get something to eat. Usually Rachel was the one up first, however, after their little late night act he was going to let her sleep as long as she wished. Picking up a pair of pajama pants off the floor he lifted them to his nose and took a sniff, they seemed fine enough to him so he slipped them on. He had gotten pretty used to sleeping in only his boxers when he had a sleepover with Rachel, however, he didn't want to walk around the apartment in just his boxers all the time. Grabbing a pair of clean socks out of his dresser he slipped them onto his feet and headed out to the kitchen.

It being Saturday meant mostly everyone was still asleep, or even in class, he had opted out of Saturday classes the last two semesters. Besides, nothing pertaining to his major had a class on Saturday's, usually it was random stuff he'd take just for the hell of it. However, when he exited his room he was surprised to see Puck in the kitchen making a protein shake. "What are you doing up?" he asked with a yawn as he headed over to the fridge and pulled out the orange juice.

"Going to the gym," he answered as he shook up his mixture in a bottle, "Gotta keep in shape, you should do the same, flabby."

Rolling his eyes, Finn grabbed a cup out of the cupboard and poured the juice into it. Puck had apologized to both him and Rachel for his little outburst on New Years Day, but Quinn and Puck were still really confusing, "Whatever."

"So," Puck looked over at his friend, "Is everything okay with you and Rachel?"

Finn leaned his back against the sink and crossed his feet in front of him as he worked on his drink. Puck's question kind of threw him off guard, "Yeah... why?"

"Oh," he just shrugged his shoulders, "no reason."

Raising his eyebrow he kind of just scared at him, "That's a _really_ weird question to ask for no reason."

"It's probably nothing," Puck felt slightly awkward all of a sudden, "Just forget I said something.. I should head to the gym."

Finn stood up straight and watched his friend, "We're bros, right? What's going on?"

Pursing his lips he just shrugged his shoulders, "I came out here to go to the bathroom last night, and well Rachel was out here."

"Yeah? She was getting a drink."

"With Jesse."

Finn froze for a moment, but then just shook it off, Jesse was one of his roommates, they were obviously going to run into each other, "Okay? Well, it's not like we can fully avoid him, can we?"

Puck nodded his head, "Yeah, I know. It's just- he was touching her face." He knew he shouldn't say anything, he didn't even know _why _he was even saying anything. "It's nothing, that girls so fucking smitten with you. I've just been in a weird place, don't fucking pay attention to me." He didn't even give Finn a chance to say anything before jetting out of the apartment.

Finn stood there for a few moments just drinking his orange juice before he turned his attention to his bedroom door. Rachel was walking out, a smile on her face as she let out a little yawn, "Morning."

"Yeah... morning," he looked into his cup for a moment before finishing it off and putting the empty cup into the sink. Turning to look at her, he wondered if he should just ask. Why was it even bothering him? Rachel was his girlfriend, but she _had _been Jesse's girlfriend. "I think I'm going to go for a run, you can- stay here or go back to your apartment, whatever." He moved passed her and back into his room where he slammed the door behind him leaving her completely bewildered.

* * *

After Finn left for his run she quickly changed back into her own clothes and headed upstairs to the apartment. She didn't understand his sudden departure, or his lack of words from the moment she woke up. He had been the one that initiated everything in the bedroom last night, so it couldn't have been that, right? She wondered if he thought she didn't enjoy it, she was pretty sure she let him know it was awesome. She had only been back at her apartment for about fifteen minutes when her thoughts about why Finn seemed weird this morning had all but taken over her brain. Rolling her eyes she threw her book she was reading to the end of her bed and headed into the living room to watch something on television. That was where she found Quinn sitting with a salad in her lap.

The two were friends, in some sort of way. They were best friends, but they were friends and sometimes even hung out together. When everything happened between Quinn and Puck, Rachel had let her know she was there for her. Quinn had been grateful. That whole situation though was still entirely confusing. Obviously, Rachel and Finn didn't know what was going on but both had let their friends know they were there. Sam had been around less and less, probably around Puck was going to beat the crap out of him. Lowering herself down on the couch next to Quinn, the girls exchanged a small smile and both turned their attention to the television.

It was a decent distraction, but Rachel's mind kept going back to her boyfriends actions from only an hour or so ago. He had been not himself. Maybe she was over-thinking things though? Yeah, yeah, that had to be it. Then again, he didn't even kiss her, just darted passed her like she wasn't there. Letting out a groan she stood up and headed over to the window. From a distance she could see Finn running, and from the looks of it he was heading back to the apartments. She quickly darted to her room, threw on a pair of her rain boots and a sweater and was out the door. The ground was covered in snow, which had slowly become the harder snow after sitting there for days. Deciding to take the short cut in hopes of cutting him off. Rachel proceeded to run down the snow covered hill between two buildings. She obviously didn't think this through.

"Finn!" she called out and before she knew it she was on her ass and slipping down the rest of the way, "ow.." she said as she finally came to a stop. Her whole backside covered in snow. She tried to stand up but slipped back down again, she should have remembered the hill got slippery, but obviously that had been the last thing on her mind.

Looking up she saw Finn standing in front of her, "Rachel, what the _hell _are you doing? You know this hill is slippery, you usually have to attach yourself to me when we walk down it."

"I forgot," she grumbled as she took his hand as he held it out for her to take. As Finn pulled Rachel to her feet, she slipped again but right into his chest.

"Babe, why are you even running down the hill calling my name?" he began to help her wipe the snow off of her.

Crossing her arms over her chest she stared at him, "I want to know why you are mad at me."

Raising his eyebrow he just stared at her, "Who said I was mad at you?"

"Well, you pretty much ignored me this morning and was all like 'whatever, I don't care if you're here or not when I get back'," Rachel tried to mock Finn's voice to the best of her ability which only caused him to chuckle. "Don't laugh at me," she shoved him causing him to slip slightly but he was able to save himself from falling. "So, why are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you," he said honestly, "I was just annoyed-," he groaned, "Puck was saying he saw you and Jesse last night and-,"

"Oh... that," she bit her lip nervously.

"Oh that?" he raised his eyebrow, an annoyed expression appearing on his face, "So you were with Jesse last night?"

"It was nothing, I was getting a drink, he was coming out of the bathroom and it was small talk, nothing exciting," she wanted to be honest, but Jesse and Finn were roommates and the last thing she wanted was to cause more awkwardness between the two. "You know, trying to be friends?" she shrugged her shoulders.

All he could was purse his lips as he stared down at his tiny girlfriend, "Puck said he saw him touching your face."

"He touched it for a moment," she realized that didn't really explain anything, "Don't worry, he wasn't trying to get me back or anything.. I'm yours, okay?" She leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his lips, "he was just saying that he thinks I have potential to be a great actress."

Finn cracked a smile as he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, starting to feel like a big dumbass, "Well, I could have told you that. I guess I just didn't get why you didn't tell me."

"It was a meaningless conversation and you and I were very occupied if I remember correctly," she blushed softly before she felt Finn's lip touching hers. Once the kiss broke, Rachel's smile slightly faded, "next time, just ask me, you had me bugging out all morning," she pushed him back causing him to fall into the snow, however, she didn't realize he was going to take her down with him. "Finn!"

He just began to laugh and after a while she couldn't help but laugh right along with him.

* * *

I'd definitely love everyone's thoughts? Reviews are loved and really what help me update as a faster pace! The last episode definitely has me pouting, but i hope everything turns around soon!


	10. love song

**A/N: **Oh my god! I know I suck so bad for not having updated! I can't believe how fast time goes! I had this chapter written up in a notebook and the notebook COMPLETELY disappeared so I had to rewrite it entirely. It's definitely on the shorter side for most of the chapters for this story, but i hope you still love it! I am going to start working on the next chapter right away so I don't leave you guys hanging again! I want to thank everyone for all your great reviews and I DO hope you still are interested in this story.**  
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**Chapter Ten: Love Song  
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_Whenever I'm alone with you _  
_You make me feel like I am home again _  
_Whenever I'm alone with you _  
_You make me feel like I am whole again _  
_Whenever I'm alone with you _  
_You make me feel like I am young again _  
_Whenever I'm alone with you _  
_You make me feel like I am fun again_

The temperature was beginning to become warmer each and every day as signs of early spring quickly approached. Spring break was only a week away, and everyone was quickly trying to figure out their plans. He of course was going to stay on campus, especially given the fact his year round housing gave him the ability to do just that. Come the 25th everyone who did not live in the apartments would have to vacate school grounds and he and the ones who were left would be able to enjoy the quiet campus. He had been working almost every moment he was not in class over the last month to both be able to save up money as well as not work every day over spring break. He wanted the ability to spend time with his girlfriend without the hassles of class or his job, just to be able to sit back and relax. Things were going well between them, at least he liked to believe they were. They were both busy with classes and him with work that sleepovers and just cuddling whenever they had a moment free were fine with him. Sure, he definitely would love for their relationship to continue to move forward on certain levels, but he wasn't going to push her.

His mother had begun to ask questions about her, mostly due to the fact Kurt kept telling Carole Hudson of her son's love life. It wasn't that he was ashamed of his relationship or anything like that, he just wasn't the most eloquent guy and didn't really know what to say. He had told his mom he was dating a girl he really liked and well, he had left it at that. However, his mother wanted to know additional information as Kurt continued to open his mouth. What was she like? What did she look like? Did she treat him good? Was he treating her good? It was a million questions in so little time that he honestly felt it easier to just ignore her. Truth be told, he actually really really liked Rachel, to the point where he had never liked a girl as much as he liked her. It actually scared him a lot, given the fact they had only been dating almost three months, but then again, he figured that was how relationships got as you got older. They enjoyed the time they spent together, and well, he began to notice how they were in that comfort zone that they weren't afraid to be themselves.

Fifteen minutes was all he had left in work for the day then he'd be able to enjoy his Friday night and rest of his weekend until Monday. He had been scheduled to work Saturday, but one of the girls asked if he could cover their Thursday and he'd take their Saturday. He wasn't going to protest. Finn wanted to be able to sleep in and just enjoy whatever plans he was going to have for the night without having to worry about having work the following day. Rachel had continuously texted him throughout his shift, a smile appearing on his face every time he felt his phone vibrate. She was baking or something along those lines and apparently really wanted him to have a taste of her muffins. He knew it was wrong, but his mind couldn't help but go into the gutter, did she even realize how that sounded? He had a feeling she didn't, but he never was sure when it came to her. Ever since that night he fingered her, well, he wanted to do it again. It had happened a couple more times and he really enjoyed being able to get her off, but he kind of wanted something in return. She had grabbed him through his pants and rubbed with her palm and all that, but would she ever touch the thing? He honestly hoped he didn't come off like a dickhead thinking that, he would just blame spending too much time around Puck if anything.

Tapping his pen, he kept looking at the clock hoping that the next person would get in already and then he could start to get ready to leave. He had been there for what seemed like forever and his ass was honestly calling asleep. Every few moments he would glance at the clock and let out a sigh; that was until he saw Carrie walking in and she shot him a little wave. They spoke for a couple moments before he grabbed his stuff and headed out towards his apartment. However, instead of going straight to his, he figured he'd just go to Rachel's.

Knocking on the door, he only waited a moment before he was greeted by his adorable girlfriend decked out in a apron and those mitten things, he couldn't remember what they were called. "Hey baby."

Rachel's face lit up and she motioned for him to come in, but not before leaning up onto the tip of her toes to press a quick kiss on his lips. "You're just in time! I just took the last batch of muffins out of the oven."

Licking his lips he smirked as he shut the door and followed her into the apartment, "I have great timing then." Shrugging out of his jacket he went and hung it on the back of the chair as he headed over to try to steal a muffin, but Rachel quickly slapped his hand away causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"They are still hot!" she pulled off the mittens as she scolded him, "Have the ones that are already cooled down," she motioned to the ones sitting on the dining room table that he had completely missed when he took his jacket off. "You'll have to tell me if you like them!"

Picking one up he took a bite and couldn't help but moan softly, "So good."

Rolling her eyes, Rachel just shook her head, "Don't speak with your mouth open, Finn!"

"Sowory," he mumbled before swallowing what was in his mouth, "Sorry."

"It's okay," she smiled as she chewed on her bottom lip, something that Finn had come to find adorable during the time they had been together. "You're too cute to stay mad at."

Deciding to forget about his muffin, he put it down and took a few steps towards Rachel and smiled down at her, "hey."

"Hey yourself," she said smiling back.

Finn reached out to push some stray pieces of hair out of her face before running his knuckles over her cheek, "I missed you today."

Immediately a blush appeared on her face she she bit down on her lip, "Yeah?"

Smirking, he licked his lips and cocked his head to the side, "Yeah. I kind of hate waking up without you next to me and not being able to see you for almost the whole day."

"You're here now."

"That I am," leaning down, Finn captured Rachel's lips in a soft kiss. A soft moan escaped her lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck giving Finn the ability to lift her up and put her down on the counter to make it easier to kiss her. As the kiss grew deeper, all could be heard was the sound of their groans and sighs. Rachel's hands made their way into Finn's hair and soon enough she began to slightly tug, something he had come to love since they started dating. As she continued her ministrations he began to rub his hands up and down her bare thighs. It didn't seem to matter how chilly a day could be, Rachel seemed to ilove/i to wear her skirts and well, he had no complaints about that one. Feeling bold, Finn slid his hands further up and smirked into the kiss as his fingers ran down her cloth covered center. She was idefinitely/i turned on.

Rachel tore away from the kiss as Finn's fingers began to rub up and down, "Please..." she said softly before catching her breath just enough to continue the kiss.

Deciding to give her what he assumed she wanted, Finn quickly pushed her panties to the side as much as he could and slipped a finger into her hot center, groaning at the contact. He would never get tired of that feeling. Moving his finger in and out of her slowly, he continued to kiss her deeply. Well, that was until Rachel pulled away from the kiss again and pressed her forehead against his. Her breathing grew erratic as she let out little whimpers, her hips slowly moving against his finger, which only urged him to slip a second one in. Just having his fingers inside of her made him remember how much he wanted to taste her, but right here? Then again, he couldn't believe Rachel was allowing him to finger her on the kitchen counter. There obviously was a first time for everything.

* * *

Quinn could not believe it was just about time for spring break, a break she so desperately needed. She didn't have any big plans, but she was going to visit her sister for a few days. Not usually ideal or anything like that, but things with Puck were still highly confusing and she thought the small break might help. At the beginning of the year she would have never thought she would consider one miss Rachel Berry such a close friend, but as time went on she grew to know the girl and well, she wasn't ihalf/i bad. Through everything that had been going on with Puck, Rachel had been there for her to vent to and well, the relationship between the girls only seemed to grow stronger. She knew she had been wrong with getting so close with Sam, but Puck constantly confused her, why didn't he want that title? Finn and Rachel knew each other half the amount of time Puck and Quinn knew each other, but they were the couple in a relationship that seemed to be going places.

Opening the door to the apartment, Quinn stepped inside and could hear the television on low only a few feet ahead. As she headed in further, she noticed that no one was actually iin/i the living room. Rolling her eyes she went to head over to the living room and grab the remote; that was until she tripped over something large and was sent to the ground.

"QUINN!" Rachel yelled as she quickly went over to help her up, "Are you okay?"

Pushing herself to her feet with Rachel's help, Quinn quickly whipped her knees off and turned to see what or iwhom/i she had actually tripped over. There sat Finn Hudson, his back against the kitchen counter and his feet out in front of him, actually reaching under one of the kitchen chairs. Narrowing her eyes she glared at him, "Thanks."

He smiled sheepishly, "Sorry."

She shook her head and then turned to Rachel, "What are you two even doing on the floor?"

Rachel blushed softly and just shrugged her shoulder, "Eating muffins."

Quinn went to open her mouth to speak. However, she quickly spotted the pan of Muffins draped over Finn's lap. He held the pan up and smiled, "Want one?"

Shaking her head, she quickly held out her hand, "No, I'm actually good. I think I'm going to take a nap, but you guys enjoy your muffin eating on the floor." She noticed Rachel's sympathetic smile and just tried her hardest to give one back before retreating to her room and shutting the door behind her. Leaning against it, she dropped her back down and sighed. Quinn was jealous of Rachel and Finn and she didn't like it one bit.

* * *

After everything that took place in the kitchen, including the act on the counter as well as the muffin eating on the floor, Rachel and Finn decided to go catch a film. Deciding on one had proved to be semi-difficult, mostly for the fact there wasn't that many good choices out. They obviously had different tastes, but most of the time it was easy for them to agree on something to see, but when nothing interesting was out for any of them? Well, it was pretty difficult. They must have stood inside the theater forever trying to decide on something to see. Bickering here and there, mostly from her since she really didn't feel like seeing things blown up. However, after some ivery/I clever convincing on his part they eventually chose a film, and to make things better they were the only two in the theater. Now, Rachel wasn't all about PDA, or really anything sexual in public. It was the dark though, and on more than one occasion they had made out during a film. Wasn't it like a right to passage? You had to at least make-out in a movie at least ionce/i in your life?

Letting out a sigh after some big explosion on the screen, Rachel snuggled into Finn's side, her nose slowly rubbing against his neck. "Finn," she whispered softly, but apparently it was no use since he was that into the movie. "Finn," she reached up to poke him in the face.

Swatting her hand away, "Rachel, watch! This is a good part."

Groaning she pulled away from him and crossed her arms over her chest, "How would you iknow/i this is a good part? It's not like you've seen the movie before," she grumbled under her breath.

"Actually...,"

Quickly turning her head in the dark, she narrowed her eyes and stared at her boyfriend, "Finn Hudson, ihave/i you seen this movie before?"

Biting his lip, he knew he couldn't like to her, "Well...," he turned to her and tried to give her puppy dog eyes in the dark, "I saw it with Puck last week."

Throwing her hands up in the air she let out another groan, "Unbelievable!"

"I'm sorry! But it's really good," he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek, "I'll make it up to you, okay?"

"Yeah?" she turned her head slightly, her lips grazing his, "Is the movie ithat/i exciting?"

"Well.. yeah," he smiled softly before kissing her lips slowly, "Try to watch it for me?"

"Okay," she nodded softly and tried her hardest to pay attention, but fifteen minutes later she was getting antsy again. Not only was the movie boring her, but Finn had his hand on her knee and was ripping her bare knee softly with her thumb. Just his touch was driving her crazy and part of her wanted for his hand to move further up. She couldn't even believe she was thinking that! She was innocent, okay, not ireally/i, but she liked to think she was. They had still been progressing slowly, he had fingered her a couple of times, like earlier today. However, he had never been on the receiving end. Rachel began to chew on her bottom lip as she decided to make a bold move and place her hand on his leg. Slowly, she moved her hand further up, and as she did this, she couldn't help but notice Finn squirm a little.

"Rach," he whispered softly, but she didn't care. Rachel licked her lip as she reached her destination, and after hearing his take a sharp breath she began to palm him through his jeans. "What-," his voice was shaking as he turned his head to look at her, "What are you doing?"

"Making you feel good?" she sounded so unsure, she ireally/i had never done any of this before. Shifting in her seat slightly so she could get closer to him, Rachel slowly began to undo his pants and she whispered softly, "Is this okay?"

Even though they were in the dark she could see him nodding, "yes.."

Slowly but surely Rachel undid his pants and pushed them down a little so she could reach inside. Taking a deep breath she slipped her hand into his boxers and for the first time ever actually felt Ihim/i. It was softer than she imagined, but she remembered reading in a book that it was soft to the touch. He was stiff, which of course made her blush a little since it was clearly from her ministrations from only moments before. Wrapping her tiny hand around him fully, she began to move it up and down. "Am I doing this right?"

Finn nodded as his breathing became labored, "Just... a little faster." When she obliged he groaned, "yeah, just like that." Was this really happened? Rachel was giving her boyfriend a hand job in the middle of a dark movie theater? This had to be a dream for both of them or something. Soon enough he couldn't even keep his eyes open and he just had to lean his head back and try to keep breathing because he was not going to last much longer. "Oh god, Rach... Rach-," he threw his head forward and let out a grunt as his came.

Rachel slowed down her movements and slipped her hand out as she sunk back in her chair feeling so embarrassed. "You okay?"

Finn grabbed the napkins he have shoved in the cup holder and quickly cleaned himself off before looking at Rachel, "Baby, you okay?" He grabbed the hand that had just been in his pants and brought it to his lips, "You are amazing you know that right?" He leaned forward and kissed her, "You didn't have to do that though."

Biting on her bottom lip slowly she smiled, "I wanted to make you feel good, did I?"

"you bet you did," he leaned in and kissed her again. Best movie date ever.

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So did everyone love the superbowl episode! it was great, aside from that last moment. I've already heard a bunch of stuff for Tuesdays episode which is slightly a bummer, but I have fate for the rest of them!


	11. need you tonight

**A/N: **As always, thank you for your great reviews guys! they are really what keeps me writing. Sorry for another wait with this one. I went away and was only able to get _Separate ways _updated before I left. I hope you guys like this chapter. _**  
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**Chapter Eleven: Need You Tonight  
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_Come over here _  
_ All you got is this moment_  
_ The 21st Century's yesterday_  
_ You can care all you want_  
_ Everybody does yeah that's okay _

The sound of the crinkling package from the constant opening of the thing of cookies was driving her absolutely crazy. Why couldn't he just take the entire tray out if he wanted to continue to eat them? Instead of taking two out at a time to only go back right after he swallowed the second one. She lov-, she cared deeply for her boyfriend, but her roommates all night sexcapade had given her barely any chance to get a decent nights sleep. Finn had ended up having some poker night thing with Puck and some other guys until late so she opted to sleep downstairs at her own place so she could get a goodnight sleep and not have to worry about listening to the guys talking all night. Boy was she wrong. Spring break had officially started and all she really wanted to do was be lazy and spend time with Finn. Sure, being lazy wasn't the most typical behavior for her, but why try to just sit back and relax once and a while? Finn seemed to have the ability to do it just fine. She worked so hard at school and trying to be perfect, sometimes she almost forgot what it was like to relax. Meeting Finn had given her the ability to sit back and enjoy things from time to time. Maybe they were opposites in many way, but wasn't it true that opposites attract? Sure, they had similarities, but no one wanted to date someone that was _exactly _like them, now did they?

As the package was opened yet again, she quickly looked up from her book and glared at Finn, which caused him to freeze mid-bite and just stare back at her. As he went to say something she just shook her head and Finn quickly shut his mouth and swallowed the remainder of the cookie that was in his mouth. She smiled slightly before turning her attention back to her book, but a moment later she could hear the package opening again. Shoving her bookmark between the pages, she let the book close and stood up, quickly stomping her way over to her boyfriend. She pulled the tray out of the package and shoved it into his hands before going back and grabbing her book and heading into his bedroom. She hoisted herself up into his bed and made herself comfortable to continue to read her book.

"Um," Finn's voice traveled as he made his ay to stand in the doorway of his bedroom, "Did I do something?"

"Nope," she answered making a popping side with the 'p' as she didn't even bother to look up at him.

"Are you on your period or something?" Rachel's head quickly popped up and from the look on his face she could tell he was regretting asking that question, "Uh-, I mean- you seem kind of... I don't know."

Rachel stared at her boyfriend long and hard, her lips pursing and her eyes narrowing. A quick debate running through her mind if she should throw her book at him or not, "No Finn." She licked her lips and bit down on her bottom lip, but not in the cute way, but the way she did it when she was annoyed, "I am _not _having my period at this current point and time."

Finn just slowly nodded, "Oh."

With a roll of her eyes she just let out a frustrated sigh and leaned her head back against the wall, "I just did not sleep that well last night if you must know."

"Sorry, I guess I just assumed," he stood there kind awkwardly, almost as If he was unsure about fully walking into the room. "No sisters or anything like that, and my girlfriend in high school was pretty much always a bitch." Noticing Rachel's glare at him, he quickly shook his head, "But not sleeping, that's not good.. why didn't you sleep?"

"My roommate and her 'boyfriend', I use that term lightly," she pushed herself up and tossed her book to the end of Finn's bed, "Decided to have an all night sexcapade and it kept me awake. All the moaning, and the banging and the screaming. I really hate her and banging my hand against the wall clearly didn't seem to accomplish anything."

"It was the roommate next to you?" Rachel simply nodded and Finn put down the cookies and headed into his room, "Well, why don't you give her like... payback or something?"

Raising her eyebrow Rachel cocked her head to the side and stared at her boyfriend, "Like... have really loud sex to get her back?"

"Well," Finn sit down on the end of his bed and shrugged his shoulders, "Sure, why not?"

"Did you happen to forget I'm a virgin, Finn? And I don't really want to _lose _my virginity as payback for my roommate having loud sex, thank you." Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and looked to the side. Finn and her rarely fought and she knew her lack of sleep was a key factor in her being grumpy, but did he really just say what he said?

"Rach... I didn't mean it like that."

"Oh?" she let out a sarcastic chuckle, "Then _how _did you mean it?" Rachel shook her head and slipped off of the bed, rejecting Finn's help when he tried to offer it. Once she was on the floor she ran her hands over her skirt, "You know what? I'm really tired and I'm obviously not being fair to you, so I am just going to leave."

Finn groaned and quickly stood up, "Baby, please don't leave. I wanted us to spend time together."

"It's quite fine, Finn. Your cranky virgin girlfriend doesn't want to keep you from having fun. I'll just see you later," and with that Rachel exited Finn's bedroom and soon enough his place. Heading to her own, she made her way inside and smiled slightly over the fact no one was there. Rachel hadn't wanted to be cranky towards Finn, but god she was just tired. Deciding a quick nap would be amazing, she slipped into her bed and under the comforter and was out like a light in minutes.

* * *

His whole plan for the day was to spend it with his girlfriend, but apparently he had pissed her off, or maybe the fact she had barely gotten any sleep just made her extremely cranky. He knew very well that she could sometimes have a little attitude, but he usually found it cute, this though? It was one of the reasons he came to the conclusion that she was possibly on her period, but apparently he was dead wrong on that. He had been dating her for a bit now, he should have realized he had clearly been on her period before in those months and was never _that _cranky. Then again, he was a guy and really didn't always pay attention to those types of things. Truth be told, he was pretty fucking sure he sucked at Relationships and had to admit he was pretty shocked that Rachel hadn't dumped him by now. Then again... well, Rachel herself was a bit of a handful, not that he didn't care for her or anything like that. Because he cared _a lot, _more than he had ever cared about a girl before and it actually scared him a great deal. Relationships were a complicated thing, even over the smallest thing ever sometimes.

Sometimes Finn wondered if what he was feeling would be considered love. He was pretty sure it was something you just felt though and didn't really think about, but these feelings for her? Definitely nothing he experienced before. Back in high school when he was dating Santana, he wasn't even sure he liked her half the time. Okay, he was a dick and shit to stay with her cause she was hot, but she was pretty much only with him because he was the star quarterback anyway. As soon as that all changed she was gone, not that she was ever really there anyway. She may have been good at denying it, but he knew deep down that she was the furthest thing from faithful. Finn just tried to turn a blind eye and pretend everything was okay, it wasn't. When she left him as soon as he wasn't quarterback anymore, well, it had been a blessing.

"You look like you have to poop," Finn had been sitting on the couch just staring out the window when he heard a voice. Turning his head he rolled his eyes to see Puck walking out of his room with a bag draped over his shoulder. He had stayed around campus for a few days into Spring Break since he had to work, but now was heading out of town for the rest of it. He had invited Finn to go with him, but he really just wanted to lay low, spend time with his girlfriend and get some work in if he could.

Finn grabbed the random throw pillow next to him and tossed it at Puck, "I do _not _look like I have to poop. You don't even know what I look like when I do have to poop."

Puck just let out a scoff, "I live with you, of _course _I know what you look like when you have to poop."

"Funny."

Looking around Puck just shrugged his shoulders and pulled his bedroom door shut, "So where is the little loud mouth?"

Narrowing his eyes at his friend he pursed his lips, "Don't call her that."

"Hey, she's my friend... kind of... not, a little bit," he just shrugged his shoulders again, "Anyway, where is she?"

Finn sighed and leaned his head back against the couch, "i think I pissed her off or something..."

"Or something?"

"I'm not _exactly _sure what happened. I thought she was on her period so I asked and well she didn't seem too happy about that, and then I made a comment about having loud sex so she could get her roommate back for having loud sex and keeping her awake and well, she didn't seem to happy about that one since she's a virg-,"

"Wait a fucking minute," Puck put his hand up, "You still haven't tapped that?"

"Shut up," Finn groaned, sometimes he honestly hated his best friend, "We've done other stuff."

"Oh?" Puck dropped his bag down by the kitchen island before coming over and leaning on the back of the big chair, "Like_ what?_"

"Well- I don't want to talk to you about this."

"Pussy," Puck smirked, "if you don't tell me I am going to assume that you have blue balls and are a pussy cause you can't get into your girlfriends pants."

"I can get into her pants just fine, thank you very much!"

"Uh huh, prove it!"

"Fuck you," Finn stood up and headed into the kitchen and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. Popping the top off he took a swig and looked over at Puck who was watching him with a smirk on his face, "Are you still here?"

"Pussy!" he licked his lips then made a whipping sound, "You are _so _whipped."

"how the fuck am I whipped?" Finn raised his eyebrow, "Why do you want to know if i've gotten into her pants or not?"

"Because my friend, I need to make sure you're cool enough to continue to hangout with the puckzilla."

Rolling his eyes, Finn took another swig, "I've fingered her a few times."

"Only fingered? You haven't eaten her out yet?"

"Why do you talk like that?"

"Why _don't _you talk like this? You are such a fucking girl, Finnessa." Puck walked towards the counter and started to drum his hands on the top, "Has she at least blown you or something?"

"I am done with this conversation."

"Come on! I'm your best friend!"

Taking another swig he put his beer down on the counter and glared at his best friend, "Well, she gave me a hand job in the movie theater."

"Berry jacked you off in a movie theater!" Puck fist pumped the air, "Hell fucking yeah, I always knew she was into that public shit."

Just glaring at him, he motioned towards the door, "Weren't you leaving?"

Puck went over and grabbed his back and then turned back to Finn, "Fine fine, I know when I'm not wanted. Just make sure you don't have sex on my bed while I'm gone!"

* * *

The nap was _exactly _what she needed. When she woke up she felt refreshed, the way she usually loved to wake up every morning and well, sure it wasn't morning, but at least she was not so cranky anymore. She hadn't meant to snap at Finn, if that's what she could call snapping. The main reason she had decided to go back to her room was she was actually afraid she would end up _really _snapping at him. When he had made the sex comment she knew he wasn't trying to start anything, or even pressure her into having sex with him, he was just trying to help her out. The truth was though, she had really been considering having sex with Finn lately. Although, she was still a little scared, but she knew that she would be ready sometime soon, she just felt it. Hands and fingers were still the farthest they had gone, and maybe moving a head a little while be a good step? She wasn't really sure how to approach it though. She actually kind of wished that Quinn wasn't out of town so she could get her advice.

After searching for her book for about 10 minutes she remembered that she had left it on Finn's bed, but she wasn't exactly looking forward to going to see him. Not that she didn't want to see her boyfriend, but even if he said she wasn't or something, Rachel had been on the cranky side earlier. With Jesse she hadn't cared that much, but with Finn? With Finn it was completely different. This was special it. Worth it. And well, that was scary all on it's own. Since the book wasn't going to be recovered anytime soon, Rachel decided to try to check her facebook and stuff like that. She noticed Finn's status being 'blah' and felt bad. It wasn't like they fought or anything like that, but she had pretty much left him in the middle of his room when all he wanted to do was spend time with her.

Deciding to be a big girl, she pulled out her phone and sent her boyfriend a text message telling him to come upstairs. At first she was a little worried when she received no answer, but then a smile quickly appeared on her face when she heard a knock at the door. Slipping out of her room she hurried over to the door and quickly opened it. "I'm sorry," they said at the same time causing them both to chuckle.

Rachel cocked her head to the side and smiled slightly, "Why are you sorry?"

"Well, I was being stupid earlier and pissed you off?"

She reached for his hand and tugged him inside. As soon as the door closed her lips collided with his for a brief moment, "You didn't piss me off, it was just the lack of sleep made me cranky. Although," she blushed softly, "I kind of _did _want to kill you for the cookie thing."

It was Finn's turn to blush as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up for another kiss, "Yeah, sorry about that."

"It's okay," she placed her hands on his chest and smirked, "I napped so I am feeling a whole lot better."

"I'm glad," he kissed her forehead, "Is your roommate home?" Quinn and her one roommate were out of town for spring break, but the one who had a room directly next to her had stayed in town, and of course all they had was a wall between them.

Rachel raised her eyebrow, "I think so... why?" was he going to bring that sex thing up again?

Finn just shrugged his shoulders, "Just wondering.. I was going to ask if you maybe wanted to make out or something?"

"Are you trying to be sly, mister?" she giggled softly before kissing him again and dragging him into her room. She knew that they wouldn't end up having sex or anything like that, but truthfully? She just really wanted to make out with her boyfriend. Once in her bedroom, the door was shut and Finn quickly pushed her up against it as he hunched down to be able to kiss her better. Their height didn't always work for them, but they tried their hardest.

It didn't take long for Rachel to feel that familiar wetness between her legs as the kiss intensified. She slipped her hand under his shirt and ran her nails against his skin causing him to groan, "Rach—, I want to touch you."

Rachel licked her lips and nodded, sighing softly as she felt Finn's hands slip into both her skirt and panties. He began to run his fingers through her slick folds before dipping a finger into her. Rachel arched her body up from against the door, "Oh god." He began a rhythm with his finger that she began to match. Soon one finger turned into two, and Rachel was panting as she felt that build up start. However, before she knew it Finn was removing his fingers from her and before she had a change to say anything she watched as he licked his fingers clean of her juices.

Finn closed his eyes for a moment, "God, even better than I imagined."

Her eyes widened as she watched her boyfriend, "You've imagined what I taste like?"

"Well, yeah," he nodded, "Baby, I've wanted to taste you for so long."

Rachel couldn't help but blush, why did he have this power over her, "Really?"

He just nodded his head, "Rachel, can I _please _taste you?" It took her a moment, but she realized what he meant and found herself nodding. Finn lifted her up off the ground and brought her over to her bed. He knew it was going to be a bit difficult, but her bed was pretty low so he had an idea. With Rachel sitting down, he knelt down in front of the side of her bed and smirked, "Perfect."

She watched him intensely as he slipped his fingers under her skirt and pulled her panties down and tossed them to the side. Urging her to lay back a bit, she grabbed her pillows and put them behind her back as she watched him through hooded eyes. She honestly wasn't sure what to expect, she had_ never _done this before. Finn ran his hands up and down her thighs as he parted them, pulling her to the edge of the bed. He began to press soft kisses against her inner thighs before finally brushed the tip of his tongue over her swollen clit, causing her to gasp. "Oh!"

Finn slowly but surely began to run his tongue over her nub, "do you like that?"

"uh huh," Rachel couldn't believe how _good _this fucking felt. She arched her hips all the bed as he buried his face between her legs, "fin-" She could hear him chuckle as he tried to still her hips. His tongue was doing these things to her that she honestly had _never _thought were possible. The fire in her stomach felt like it was going to burst as she felt his fingers join in on his actions. Her breathing was erratic as she grabbed her pillows, bedspread, and lastly his hair. "fuck!" she groaned loudly as he hit the edge and fell over.

Pulling back, he had a huge grin on his face as he stared at his spent girlfriend in front of him. Finn climbed onto the bed and leaned over to press a soft kiss to her lips, "hey you."

Rachel turned her heard to look at him, "h—hi."

"Out of breath?" he smirked as he leaned on his elbow and watched her.

"A little..." Rachel licked her lips before blushing profusely. Throwing her hands over her face she giggled slightly, "That was- wow."

"I'm glad you thought so," he ran his free hand up and down her arm before leaning in to kiss her. "You deserve to feel good, baby. Thank you for letting me to taste you," he captured her lips in a deep kiss.

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Reviews? Love? Hugs?


	12. So Contagious

**A/N: **_C_an you believe how fast March went? This chapter is more on the shorter side, but I do hope you all love it! _**  
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**Chapter Twelve: So Contagious  
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_Oh no, this couldn't be more unexpected_  
_ And I can tell that I've been moving in so slow_  
_ Don't let it throw you off too far_  
_ Cause I'll be running right behind you_

He wasn't sure when the exact moment had occurred. When the realization had finally taken place. April had moved in fast and everyone was beginning to stress about the impending finals. He himself had been in a funk the last couple of days, but it wasn't particularly about school or finals. Every so often he'd get a case of 'the what ifs'. What if he had never blown out his knee, would he have ended up going to to Ohio State or another school in a football scholarship? Would he and Santana broken up? What if they were still together? Okay, that one was pretty stupid because he was pretty damn sure that he would have broken up no matter what took place. However, sometimes he couldn't avoid the what ifs. He had pushed himself so much the last couple of days on his runs that he was now paying for it. The pain in his knee was making it impossible for him to sleep. A slight movement became unbearable. He had tried so hard to act like it hadn't bothered him the last couple of days, but he knew today it was going to be pretty much unavoidable.

Burying his head further into his pillow he took a deep breath and tried his hardest to fall back asleep. Rachel's body was snuggled up against his side. Her small hand rubbing up and down his back lazily, a clear indication that she was just starting her wake up process. He couldn't help but sigh as she nuzzled her face into his neck and left the smallest kisses.

"Aren't you going to get up and go for your morning run?" she whispered softly, her mouth still moving against his neck.

"No," was just about all he could mutter as he buried his head further into the pillow.

Rachel lifted her head, "Why not? It's-"

"I don't want to."

"But Finn-,"

Once again he cut off her off as he groaned and pushed himself up just enough to be able to turn and face her, "Because I don't want to fucking go, okay? Can you please just drop it and get off my damn back."

As soon as the words left his mouth he immediately regretted it. Rachel bit her bottom lip as her face dropped, "Oh, okay."

Finn let out a sigh as he tried to turn onto his side slightly to look at her better, "I'm sorry, Rach. I just have some shit going on in my head."

She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly decided against it and just nodded instead. To Finn it was very unRachel like to not say anything, but then again she probably hadn't expected him to get annoyed with her. This just caused him to feel terrible. Reaching out, he pushed some hair out of her face before cupping her cheek.

"I'm really sorry, baby."

Nodding again, she reached up to put her hand over his, "I'm sorry, too. It's early and I shouldn't have been so naggy about something so trivial."

"You weren't nagging," Finn told her softly as he went to turn off so he could sit up fully. This of course caused him to groan loudly as the pain shot through his knee causing him to curse and reach down to grab his knee.

Rachel's eyes quickly filled with worry as she rested her hand on his back, "Baby, what's wrong?"

Closing his eyes, he took a feel deep breaths before leaning back against the pillows and wall, "It's just my knee. I guess I pushed myself too hard and now it's bothering me real bad."

"Oh Finn," she leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to his neck, "I wish you told me."

As Rachel nuzzled her face into the side of his neck, Finn brought his hand up to stroke her hair, "I just hate talking about it, you know? It reminds me of everything that happened."

She began to speak softly as she let her hand run up and down his chest slowly, "Do you regret what your life has become?" she paused for a second before continuing, "That because of what happened you ended up here and not doing what you had always wanted?"

Finn may not have always been the sharpest tool in the shed, but there was no denying the sadness that was dripping in her voice. He had come to really know his girlfriend the last couple of months, and probably was worried that he regretted being with her. "Of course not, Rach," he lifted her chin up so he could look her directly in the face as he spoke, "Yeah, I mean I hate that I fucked up my knee and all that shit, but I am really glad I'm here. I mean, okay, it would have been awesome to be able to play football for some big school or something like that," he pursed his lips as he moved his hand to start to stroke her cheek with the back of his fingers. "Are you worried that because of what happened that I'm regretting us."

She looked down sadly and shrugged, "I don't know."

Finn knew that Rachel liked to be strong, but sometimes no matter how strong you were you couldn't help but show your vulnerable side, "Rachel, that's bullshit if that's what you believe. I am so happy with you," he paused for a minute and took a breath. It was now or never, right? "I love you."

"What?" her head shot up as she stared him in the face, almost as if she didn't hear him right.

"I love you, Rachel," he gulped slightly, "I know we've only been dating a couple month and all, but I love you and I ju-,"

Rachel quickly cut Finn off with a quick kiss before pulling away, "Finn?"

"Yeah?" he asked a little confused.

She leaned back in, but instead of giving him a kiss she pressed her forehead against his, "I love you, too."

He couldn't help but just smile at her declaration, he had been slightly afraid that she might have not felt the same way, "You're amazing, Rach." Finn allowed his lips to hover over hers for a few moments before going in for the kill. It started off slow and sweet, but then slowly began to build up into something more. Rachel ran her tongue along his lips begging for entrance, which he happily accepted. As soon as their tongues came into contact they both let out a groan. Letting his hands come to get lost in the tangles of her locks he pulled her closer. Her small hand brushed over his groin, almost as if she just wanted to make sure he was having the reaction she hoped for. Finn couldn't have been happier than they were both still in their pajamas.

Breaking from the kiss for a second to catch her breath, Rachel spoke barely above a whisper as she moved to straddle his waist. There was no denying the wetness that began to pool between her legs during the heated kiss. She moved against him slightly, biting down on her lip to subside her moan, "Finn."

Finn's hands settled on her waist as his mouth began an assault on her neck. He shifted his hips up against hers causing them both to moan. No matter how bad the pain in his knee was, he couldn't bother to care about it when he was in this position with Rachel. However, he knew very well it wasn't going to make things easier, like him wanting to go down on her wasn't exactly a possibility when he would have to put too much pressure on his knee. Pulling away from her neck he leaned his head back against the wall and let out a frustrated groan, apparently the pain was going to cause him issues, "This sucks."

Rachel stilled her movements and looked at Finn, "Did I do something wrong?"

"No no, baby," he shook his head, "I just hate my knee right now. I honestly want nothing more than to have my face buried between your legs right now, but since this bed is way too small and I usually have to get on the floor to do it.."

"Oh," she felt bad about his knee, really bad, but she couldn't help but blush at what he said at the same time.

"Did you know that it's really sexy when you blush?" Finn said licking his lips before shifting his hips up against her again.

"Finn," she whimpered softly before leaning in to lazily kiss him, "I want you to lick me."

Chuckling he tugged on her bottom lip with his teeth, "Did I create a monster, huh?"

Once again she blushed as she playfully slapped his chest, "You're making me blush!"

"Didn't you just hear me say that it's really sexy when you blush, hm?" he spoke inbetween kisses, "maybe I _want _to make you blush."

Rachel got quiet, almost as if she was trying to think of something. Her face became serious, but her hips did not still as Finn and her moved against each other, so desperately wanting that friction. "What if-," she chewed on her bottom lip too embarrassed to say the idea.

"Come on, baby," Finn groaned as his breathing started to pick up, "Tell me."

"I don't want to," she giggled and closed her eyes for a moment as she tried to control her breathing, "Feels so good."

"I want to make you feel good, Rach. Tell me what you want.. do you want me to go down on you?"

"Yes," she nodded, "But you can't with your knee... unless, I hover above you?"

Finn's eyes widened as he stared at her. Had Rachel _really _just said that? "Wha..."

"Now I'm embarrassed," she covered her face.

"No no," he pulled her hands down as he cupped her neck and pulled her in for a hard kiss. "Lets do it, I really need to taste you."

"I think I might be the one that created a monster," Rachel said with a giggle before sliding off Finn's waist giving him a change to lay down a little.

He winced slightly, but tried to hide it as best as possible. Watching her slowly, he couldn't help but lick her lips as Rachel slowly started to shimmy out of the pair of boxers she had stolen from him and her pair of cotton panties. One thing Finn had noticed was as time went on in their relationship Rachel definitely became more comfortable around him, especially when it came to their sexual relations. Sure, they hadn't had sex _yet, _but he wasn't going to push her if she wasn't ready.

"Okay, I'm ready...," Rachel moved her body and placed her legs on either side of Finn's head.

He groaned just at the sight of it and slowly brought his hands to rest on her butt, giving it a little squeeze, "come down a little bit," Rachel lowered herself a little bit as she placed her hands on the wall to steady herself, "Yeah, just like that." Finn darted his tongue out and ran it through her slick folds, "sooo good."

Rachel gasped as she slowly started to move against Finn's mouth, "More..." whimpering she brought her hand up to her mouth to muffle her moans. Finn pulled his mouth away for a moment, chuckling at her protests. He slipped two fingers between her folds before sliding them in as his sucked her swollen nub into his mouth. "Uh!" Rachel threw her head back as she started to move against Finn's face, basically riding it.

He chuckled against her, the vibrations causing her to moan louder. He tried to steady her movements the best he could with his one hand as his other was busy working his fingers in and out of her. "Come on, baby. Please.."

Rachel reached down and grasped onto Finn's hair as she felt herself break. Finn quickly lapped up off of her juices before sliding her down so she was laying next to him. "I swear," Rachel blushed softly, "You are sooo good at that."

Finn leaned over and pressed a kiss to Rachel's cheek, "I'm glad you think so, baby. Now, I think we should get a little more sleep. What do you say?" Usually she was one to be up early, but he could see in her eyes that she was exhausted from what had just taken place. With a nod she snuggled close against him and Finn closed his eyes.

* * *

"You're telling me that you love her but still haven't had sex?" Puck asked completely bewildered at this concept as he sat at a table with Finn eating his lunch, "Were you drunk when you told her? Please tell me you were drunk."

"You can be in love with someone without having had sex with them," Finn explained with a roll of his eyes.

"Wow, when did you grow a vagina?"

Finn dropped his slice of pizza onto his plate and sat back in his chair, "I don't know why I even bothered to fucking tell you."

Puck took a bite of his sandwich and began to speak, not even caring that he didn't finish swallowing his food, "I ask myself the same question every goddamn day."

"I think I need to reevaluate my friendships sometimes," Finn muttered under his breath as he went to take a bite of his pizza.

"Reevaluate? Finn using big words, I am quite impressed. Berry really does rub off on you sometimes."

"Thanks?"

Puck stayed quiet for a moment before cracking a small smile at his best friend. He knew that he often gave Finn a hard time, but he really was just having a fun time, "As much shit as I give you, I am really happy for you and Berry."

"Really?" Finn raised his eyebrow – unsure if he believed his words.

He nodded," Really. She's a great girl and from what I can see you guys really make each other happy... I envy that."

"Man, I know things been you and Quinn aren't always easy, but you guys can be happy too."

Shaking his head, Puck just sighed, "i don't know about that, man... thanks though." He took a bite out of his sandwich and chuckled, "i still believe that you said I love you before screwing her."

"Oh, don't start with that shit again!"

* * *

Focusing on her dancer instructor was proving to be a difficult task. Mostly due to the fact the events from earlier were still running through her head like they were on a constant repeat. She knew she was in love with Finn, she had realized it not that long ago. She just had never known _how _to go about telling him, it was three words she had never muttered to anyone outside of her family. And of course she knew the love she felt for Finn was a different love compared to what she felt for her family. She hated thinking it, but a big part of her being afraid to tell him was she was afraid he didn't feel the same. Yes, she knew her boyfriend cared about her, but was it the same amount as her? When she heard the words come from his mouth this morning, she honestly felt her heart swell. She didn't care how cheesy and pathetic that made her, she really loved him so much.

"Rachel," a voice harshly whispered from next to her, "earth to Rachel!"

"Hm?" Rachel shook her head and looked at Tina, "What?"

Tina rolled her eyes, but then followed it up with a smile as her friend, "You've been in this trance, what has you so happy?"

Rachel turned back to look at the instructor for a moment before doing a move, "Finn told me he loved me this morning."

"Oh my god!" Tina squealed causing their instructor to look at her and scowl, "Sorry." She cleared her throat and lowered her voice, "That's so cute, Rachel. Did you say it back?"

She nodded her head, "Of course," she turned slightly to look Tina in the face, "I really love him and yeah... he said it first though, I honestly was not expecting it."

"Well, I'm happy for you," Tina told her and two ended their conversation for the rest of their class period.

Once it was over, Rachel gathered her belongings and headed outside to head back to her room to shower and change. However, before she knew it someone had grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her to them. She quickly looked up at them and squealed as she hit them on the chest, "Finn! That was so cruel, you scared me!"

Reaching up, he rubbed his chest and looked down at his girlfriend, "For a small girl you can really hit, babe." He let out a chuckle as he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her, "I just wanted to see you."

"Yeah?" she smiled brightly up at him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Yeah, I missed you," he leaned down to capture her lips in a soft kiss.

Pulling away Rachel tilted her head to the side, "Why are you out walking? You should be resting! Your knee."

"Still hurts, but I had class then went to get some food with Puck and figured I'd wait around here until you got out of class so we can walk back together."

Reaching up, she poked him in the nose and smiled, "Well, I always love when you wait for me." Leaning up she pressed a chaste kiss to his lips, "I love you."

"I love you, too, baby," he let his hands rub up and down her sides, "You look _quite _adorable in this outfit."

"Is it your goal to make me blush at least 100 times today or something, huh?"

"It just might be," Finn pushed back from the wall he had been leaning on and reached down to capture Rachel's hand in his as they began to walk. Quickly intertwining their fingers, he brought her hand up and pressed a kiss to it. "How was dance?"

Rachel leaned into him as they walked, a huge smile plastered on her face, "It was okay, I was too distracted."

"Distracted?"

"Yeah," she smiled up at him, "I had this really tall handsome brunette on my mind the whole time."

"Oh, should I be worried?" he said with a chuckle.

"I think you're safe," she leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "You are definitely safe."

As they walked, Rachel couldn't help but think about everything that had happened since the beginning of the school year. Not only had she found a great guy she loved, he loved her back and she was really enjoying this year. The only thing that would make it better would to be able to take it to the next step. Now she would just have to figure out how to tell Finn she was ready.

* * *

thoughts? Love? Hate? Let me know!


	13. Duets

**A/N:** Oh my god! I am so so sorry that I haven't updated this story in forever. I can't believe how fast time went. I do apologize profusely! things got a little hectic and I am so grateful for all your reviews and hope that you guys are still interested in this story. I MAY end it soon and write a sequel, or i may just keep this one going. Your input is always appreciated of course._**  
**_

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: Duet  
**

_Oh Lover, hold on  
'till I come back again  
For these arms are growin' tired,  
And my tales are wearing thin  
_

It had only been a couple weeks since she had begun to accompany him on his morning runs. To her they were enjoyable and often filled with laughing and joking around as they attempted to race each other. That particular day was extremely warm to the point that both of them were sweating kind of profusely. The only difference was while he looked amazing, she looked like a complete and an utter mess. Her hair was pulled back with a head band, but still stuck up all over and her face was gross and shiny from sweating. Finals were pretty much over and everyone at school was getting ready to head out for the summer or just hang around campus. She had recently finished her final workshop for the school year and was going to be taking a couple classes during the summer session. Nothing to drastic of course, a dance class and a couple others. Sure, it would keep her at school and away from going home, but she wasn't mad about that. With living in Alumni village it made it easy and she was looking forward to the summer on campus. She still had yet to tell Finn she was ready for that next step, but she figured the perfect timing would eventually happen.

As they came to a stop to rest for a moment, she couldn't help but start to chew on her bottom lip as he lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face. Although she hadn't told him yet she was ready for the next level, that didn't mean they hadn't continued to explore all the other physically aspects of their relationship. She never expected to become one of those girls who was horny just by having her boyfriend touch her or kiss her neck, but that was exactly would could happen sometimes. They had begun to do just about everything, and she herself had even gotten over her fear of going down on him. She didn't realize how well that having no gagging reflex would come into play in that given situation.

She couldn't help but let out a sigh as her eyes scanned over his abs. Finn had an amazing body, and she wasn't being biased because she was his girlfriend. Sure, Noah would that was exactly what she was being, but she wasn't. Even if his knee held him back on some levels, he definitely tried and did his hardest to keep in shape. Sometimes Rachel couldn't help but wonder why he was dating her when other girls at the school were hot, and well, if at anything Rachel herself could just be labeled as adorable.

"Hey Rach?" she looked up to see Finn smirking down at her, "What are you staring at?"

Not being able to hide her blush, she looked down slightly, "Oh, nothing."

Raising his eyebrow, he took a step towards her, "Nothing? You inever/i bite your bottom lip over nothing."

"Yo.. you notice when I bite my lip?" why did it all of a sudden feel much hotter outside than it already was?

Licking his lips, Finn just nodded, "Mmhm, it's really hot." He placed a hand on her hip and pulled her towards him slightly before leaning down to kiss her, "I love you, Rachel."

"Even when I'm gross and sweaty?"

He let out a chuckle and nodded, "Even when you're gross and sweaty. However, I don't think you could ever be gross."

Rachel leaned up on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pressed a soft kiss on his lips and smirked, "I really do love you, Finn."

"I'm glad. Otherwise I'd have to beat up the guy you really love," He said joking as he ran his hands up and down her sides, "Do you want to just walk back to alumni or race each other?"

However, before Rachel even had the chance to answer, Finn's hands dropped from her waist and he was pulling away from her grasp and running towards their dorms. "No fair!" she yelled as she started to run after him. Rachel wasn't in terrible shape, she always made sure to exercise and all that. The thing was, she was quite smaller compared to her boyfriend, so he often had the advantage when he tried to race her.

Turning around slightly, Finn ran in place as he allowed her to check up to him, "Nothings fair in love and war, baby."

Rolling her eyes she playfully shoved him before running passed him. At least she had been attempting to run passed him, but Finn had other ideas as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest, causing both of them to stop running. "Hey! No fair, I was going to win."

"Uh huh," he leaned down and began to press kisses to her exposed collar, "I bet you were."

Rachel couldn't help but whimper at the feeling and knew instantly she was putty in his hands, "No fair, you're cheating."

"Noo," he smirked as he nipped at her neck, "I would never lie."

Rachel shifted in his arms and kissed him softly, "let's go back to your room."

"Oh?" he licked his lips as he slipped his arm around her shoulders and started to head back to the apartments, "I could never say no to such a request."

As soon as they walked into Finn's place, he called out to see if anyone was there and when they received no answer he pulled Rachel into his bedroom. Taking a deep breath, Rachel pushed Finn up against his bedroom door causing him to groan slightly, "You are so hot when you are sweaty." she was trying her hardest not to be so shy around him, especially as their relationship continued to progress.

"Yeah?"

Rachel bit down on her bottom lip and nodded, before lowering herself to the ground in front of Finn, "It really makes me want to touch you." she reached up and grabbed him through his gym shorts. Smiling as she felt him harden in her hand, "do you like when I touch you, Finn?" he nodded dumbly as she took another deep breath and reached up to lower to his gym shorts and boxers in one tug. This wasn't the first or second time she had done this, but she still felt nervous. Wrapping her hand around his shaft, she began to move it her eyes looking up as Finn threw his head back against the door and let out a groan. Once she gained the confidence, she took him in her mouth and started to work on him. Rachel really wanted to tell him she was ready for the next step, but when would she be able to muster the courage to tell him?

* * *

His apartment was kind of busy that day, Mike had finished his finals and was heading home for a few weeks and was trying to get all his stuff together last minute. And then Jesse was packing his stuff to move out. He had to be out by graduation and there was no exceptions. Obviously he still had some time, but Finn had a feeling he just wanted his stuff out of there pronto and he himself wanted out of there as well. They clearly weren't the best of friends or anything, but he wasn't exactly sure you could call them enemies either. Sometime in the spring Jesse started to date some senior in the drama department and had been basically living at her apartment. Finn figured he was sick of seeing Rachel at the apartment all the time since he basically lost her to Finn. However, Finn had no real intentions of ever asking Jesse this and figured the sooner Jesse was gone the better.

He was settled on the couch playing video games as he continued to see Mike and Jesse scramble around the kitchen trying to sort through things. Jesse was obviously taking back anything that he had brought, and clearly it was taking too long for him to remember what was his. Finn kept rolling his eyes and just continued to focus on what he was currently doing, although he swore he heard Jesse make some snide remark about him sitting on his ass and playing mindless video games for hours. He kept continually looking over as Jesse went through all the kitchen stuff, occasionally knocking stuff over. Of course, when he knocked someone over that wasn't home he didn't really care much to pick it up. Which at one point a cup was on the ground and Mike literally almost wiped out trying to walk by to go to the dryer to get his clothes out.

When another thing hit the counter top, this time breaking, Finn had enough. "Could you stop fucking breaking stuff that isn't yours?"

"Well, it's in my way," Jesse muttered under his breath as he put his stuff into a box.

Shutting off his game, Finn pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the kitchen. A broken cup and plate sat on top of the counter, both which were his. "Really, dude?" he picked them up and tossed them into the trash, "How hard is it to fucking grab your stuff without knocking mine over."

"Chill, dude," Jesse rolled his eyes, "They were ugly anyway."

"What the fuck is your problem!"

Jesse slammed down his box and turned to look at Finn, "I don't know, maybe the fact you steal peoples girlfriends from them!"

Finn just stared at him, was this guy serious? "I didn't steal her from you! You knew very well that we liked each other. I thought you got passed that anyway! It was months ago!"

"I may pretend like it doesn't bother me, but you know for a fact you are not good enough for someone like Rachel Berry," the bitterness in Jesse's voice was unavoidable. "She deserves someone who is on the same intellectual level as her, not a giant oaf like yourself."

It was this very moment that Mike walked back out of his room, but quickly came to a halt when his gaze fell upon Finn and Jesse. There was no denying the tense feelings that were making their way through the air, "I'll – uh, just leave you guys alone."

"No, stay," Finn gritted through this teeth, "I'll most likely not kill him if you're standing there."

"Oh violence," Jesse gave him an evil smirk, "of course that's what someone like you would think of."

"Dude, you need to shut the fuck up," Finn glared at him, "You are just jealous that Rachel and I actually love each other and no one wants that with you."

"Oh yes," Jesse crossed his arms and leaned against the kitchen counter, "Giving a girl orgasms results in loving each other. You really should warn Rachel she has the ability to be rather vocal sometimes."

Finn grabbed Jesse by the collar and moved his body before ramming him up against the closet that held the washer and dryer in it, "You are a fucking asshole and I am so fucking happy I don't have to share this apartment with you and your fucking wise little comments anymore."

"Finn, are you here? I wanted to know if you-," All three heads snapped to see Rachel walking into the apartment. She had stopped in her tracks when she saw Finn holding Jesse up by his shirt, "What is going on here?"

"We were just - uh, talking," Finn glanced from Rachel to Jesse back to Rachel again.

"Well, I guess I'll just leave you to your 'talking' then," she didn't look happy as the words left her mouth and with a quick turn of her heel Rachel was heading out of the apartment.

Finn groaned and let go of Jesse before going after her. Once he got outside he could see Rachel walking down one of the walk ways, "Baby! Baby, wait!" However, Rachel didn't stop and Finn quickly jogged after her, "Baby, stop."

"Why?" she turned and looked at him unamused, "I clearly was interrupting your little chat session you were having with Jesse."

"Baby," he reached down to run his fingers along her cheek, but Rachel quickly moved her face out of his reach, "I didn't mean for you to see that. Jesse was just being a real dick and I wasn't going to let him talk like that."

"Violence isn't the answer, Finn," she said softly as she looked down at the ground.

Taking her face into his hands, he leaned down and kissed her softly, "You don't think I know that? I definitely don't want to be that guy. Jesse is just a dick."

"Why though? He's been pleasant to us since everything happened."

"He's been pleasant to you, he's been kind of...," Finn just shrugged his shoulders, "I guess cold towards me?"

"Oh," was all she could say, "Well, I'm sorry. I just don't like you fighting."

"I know," he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead, "I promise it won't happen again."

Rachel nodded, "What did he say?"

"I'd rather not repeat it if that's okay."

"But I would like to know what made you so upset," she said with a sweet smile.

"I really don't want to, Rach," he said with a sigh.

"But."

He just groaned and repeated everything Jesse had said to him. Sure, maybe it wasn't the worst shit ever, but it had still been enough to get under Finn's skin and get him to react the way he did. What he hadn't expected was Rachel's reaction. At first she just stayed quiet and nodded, but then before he knew it his pint size girlfriend was making her way into his apartment to smack the smirk off her ex-boyfriends face. He really did love that girl.

* * *

It had been raining for the past hour, but there was no signs of it stopping anytime soon. She didn't mind one bit though – maybe it would finally cool things off? Not that the weather had been completely scorching yet, but it was only May. She had camped out in the big chair in the living room, pulling it towards the window to watch the rain hit the window as Funny Girl played on the TV in the corner. She was the last one left in the apartment. Quinn had gone home for two weeks and the other two girls had moved out for good. That would be her next year after graduation. Rachel couldn't believe she only had one more year of college left and then the real world, it scared her immensely. What if she didn't make something of herself? These were fears she had been having for a while now, but had been too frightened and ashamed to admit it out-loud.

"Think it's going to rain all night?" Rachel's head quickly turned to see Finn standing by the couch with a drink in his hand.

"It might," she told him softly before pushing herself off of the chair and making her way towards him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leaned up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"What was that for?" he asked smirking as his free hand came to rest on her lower back, keeping her body close to his.

"I just really love you," she said smiling before leaning her feet fully to the floor and wiggling out of his grasp. Rachel ran her fingers down his arm before grabbing onto his hand and pulling him further into the living room, "Are you happy, Finn?"

"Yeah?" he raised his eyebrow.

Rachel couldn't help but giggle as she raised his hands to her lips for a kiss, "Do I make you happy?"

"Immensely," he told him with a smile, "That's the right word, right?" she nodded, a huge grin forming on her face. "You make me so happy, baby." he pulled her back to him, "The school year definitely didn't turn out how I expected or anything like that, but you've really made it worth- uhhhh."

"Worthwhile," she told him softly, "I feel the same way." Taking a deep breath, Rachel let go of Finn's hand and reached down to grab the hem of her dress and pull it over her head.

"What are you doing?" he asked completely bewildered.

"I'm ready, Finn," she said confidently. "Make love to me."

"Right here?"

She giggled softly, "Well, yes... we could throw some blankets down on the floor. It's only us."

Finn nodded without saying a word. He put his drink down and quickly gathered her up in his arms, his mouth molding against hers. After a few minutes of heated kisses, Rachel pulled away and retreated to her room. She was back moments later with her quilt and pillows. After they were set up on the living room floor, Finn slowly lowered Rachel to the ground and found her lips once again, "I love so you much, Rachel."

"I love you, too," she said taking a deep breath as she allowed her hands to slip up the back of his shirt, "Be gentle."

"Of course." Finn took his time, kissing every piece of exposed skin he could. He and Rachel obviously had been experimental in their relationship up until this point, but this was going to be their first time. He went to unsnap her bra, but she quickly shook her head. He just smiled down at her and pressed and pressed a kiss to her lips before hooking his fingers into her panties and slid them down her leg.

Rachel slowly undressed Finn with his help, her hands shaky with each passing moment. She kept telling herself it was going to be okay, that they loved each other and she was ready for this. Once he was fully naked in front of her she blushed, even if it wasn't the first time she seen him fully naked. She watched as he slipped the condom on and settle between her legs, "I love you."

Finn smirked and pushed some of her hair out of her face, "I love you, too." He pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose, "I'm sorry if it hurts."

Rachel nodded and shut her eyes tightly as she felt Finn slowly move into her, a soft whimper escaping her lip, "It's okay-," she tried to fight back the urge to cry, "Just don't move for a minute." Finn did as she said and after a few the pain started to subside and she moved her hips slightly, enjoying the sensation, "Ooo. It's okay." It was slowly at first, getting used to moving with each others body, but not awkward. Rachel wrapped her legs around his waist and clung to him as she moved her hips with his, "Oh god."

"Fuck," he hissed, "You feel so good. I'm not going to last much longer."

"Finn," Rachel groaned throwing her head back. It wasn't long until she could feel Finn explode and moved with him as he rode out his orgasm. He collapsed on top of her and she quickly began to run her fingers through his slick hair. "I love you," she whispered over and over again.

After a minute, Finn slipped out of her and rolled onto her back, "Wow." Reaching up he ran his fingers through his hair and pulled Rachel to his side, "was it okay?"

She nodded as she pressed a kiss to his chest, "I've always heard the first time hurts a lot. I'm really glad I got to share it with you." She laid her head on his chest and smiled, "We'll just have to make sure to practice a lot."

* * *

Thoughts! did we love it or hate it. xoxo.


	14. Forever

**A/N:** I know that I sucked terribly at updating this story. I have been trying to think of a way to end it for a while. I do wish to continue, but I think it be better to do that in a sequel. Now I do have a bunch of ideas for sequels, but also other stories. With things having been so hectic lately, I am going to try to be better. I still have Separate Ways out there and will continue to work on that while I work out my ideas for another story. I have set up a tumblr which will include my stories. that's at **makemeabaneling** if you want to add it!__

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: Forever  
**

___It's you and me moving  
At the speed of light into eternity yer,  
Tonight is the night to join me in the middle of ecstasy.  
Feel the melody in the rhythm of the music around you, around you  
I'm gonna take you there, I'm gonna take you there  
So don't be scared  
I'm right here baby  
We can go anywhere, go anywhere  
But first it's your chance,  
Take my hand come with me_**  
**

The wind was blowing wildly as they tried the hardest to finish packing up the car. They were already running behind because apparently their hormones decided to kick in after their showers, and they were unable to keep their hands off one another. Of course, this also resulted in the young couple having to shower again, which they decided this time to do together – which only delayed them further. However, now the storming was brewing, and they figured they needed to try to get on the road and get ahead of it, and even pass it if it was possible. They were taking a trip, their first official trip as a couple, and were taking it before classes started up again for the school year. While he was pretty damn excited, it was easy to see that Rachel was beyond ecstatic. She was bouncing up and down as they loaded the trunk, chatting away about all the things they would be doing while on the trip, and he just couldn't help but laugh at her adorableness.

Eventually, he was able to get her to stop talking a mile a minute and into the car. Sadly, they had only probably been on the road for about 10 minutes before a torrential downpour started. Finn made sure to keep as much attention he could on the road, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Rachel was worrying. While she didn't seem to particularly hate rain, he had come to notice that thunder and lightning storms seemed to scare her quite a bit. Figuring his best bet was to pull over at least until he could see, he slowly moved the car onto the shoulder and put his hazards on.

"Babe," he began as he turned to look at Rachel in his passenger seat, "You okay?"

She nodded slowly, looking down at her skirt like it was extremely interesting, "I just hate driving in the rain."

Reaching over, Finn brought his hand to rest under her chin and slowly raised it as he leaned in to kiss her lips softly, "It's okay. We'll wait it out a little bit and then it will be fine." Bringing his hand to rest on the back of her head, he pressed a kiss to her lips, her nose, and then finally her forehead. "You excited?"

Raising her head to look him in the eyes, she smiled brightly before vigorously nodding her head, "We're going to have so much fun, Finn! Are you excited?"

He nodded, "Definitely, babe." leaning in, he kissed her another time before leaning back in his seat and looking out the front window of the car. Finn couldn't help but always find it amusing how one minute it could be pouring so hard and then the next it could lighten up like nothing. "We'll just give it a couple more minutes." Reaching up he scratched his chin, scruff already appearing from not having shaved the last couple of days. "Hey," he turned to look at Rachel, "Where are those snacks you packed?"

Rachel stared long and hard at him, narrowing her eyes, she just shook her head, "Finn, we _just _left the school! Are you seriously hungry already?"

All he could really do was smile sheepishly at her, "What can I say? I am a growing boy?"

"Growing?" Rachel let out a giggle as she shook her head, "I'm pretty sure if you grow anymore I am going to start looking like an ant to you."

Smirking, he leaned in and captured her lips in a searing kiss, "You are pretty tiny already, baby."

Rachel leaned back into him and smiled, "Shut up and kiss me."

After a few very pleasurable minutes of making out, the rain started to let up a little more and the couple decided to wait until they got to the hotel to really enjoy one another. It was the first time on a trip together and well, it was definitely a big deal. Finn really loved Rachel and he knew that anything could happen in the next year, especially given it would be their last year of school and he was hoping for the best. Nevertheless, he wanted to finish the summer off with an amazing trip the two could remember for quite some time. "Okay," he started, "It should take us a couple hours and we'll be there."

Rachel smiled and nodded as she pulled out a bag of pretzels and began to munch on them, "This is going to be so great."

"Yeah, I know. I mean-," Finn stopped mid-sentence when he heard her chewing on something and gave her a quick glance, "Hey! I asked you for the snacks and you didn't give me any!"

"Oops?" Rachel just gave him an award winning smile and held the bag of pretzels out to him.

Taking a couple, he quickly shoved them into his mouth causing Rachel to roll her eyes and begin to take out a couple more herself. "So fa twink weed-," Finn swallowed quickly then began to talk once again, "So, I think we should probably check in, fuck, then go and get food and..."

Rachel smacked Finn on the arm, "Finn!"

He quickly widened his eyes and glanced at her for a minute before looking back at the road, "What'd I do!"

"You know what you did!" she crossed her arms over his chest, "You said _that _word."

"Oh!" He nodded his head, a grin appearing on his face, "You mean fuck?"

"Stop saying it!"

"Why!" he couldn't help but chuckle at how she was acting, "It's pretty much exactly what we do."

Letting out a sigh, Rachel leaned her head back and mumbled, "Call it sex or making love. Fu- that words just sounds so dirty and rude."

"_Oh Really?_" shaking his head, Finn licked his lips and reached over to put his hand on Rachel's thigh, "I didn't hear you complaining when I was saying it during sex earlier. Actually, if memory serves me right," he gave her thigh a small squeeze, "You may have let it slip out a couple times yourself."

"But that's in the throws of passion! It's different!"

"How is it different?"

Rachel smacked his hand away as he gave her thigh another squeeze, "because it just is! Now drive or you are not getting laid for this _entire _trip."

* * *

The ride wasn't too bad, she had eventually dozed off for a while. Even though she didn't want to do that since she felt bad leaving Finn with no one to talk to. However, when she woke up he seemed in a chipper mood, munching on more snacks and singing along to the songs on the radio. And well, she couldn't help but laugh at the mess he had made all over his lap. Once they arrived at the hotel, they checked in and made their way to the room. Rachel immediately climbed into the bed and snuggled against the pillows, but as soon as her eyes closed she felt a weight on top of her.

"Finn," she whined as she opened them and saw her giant boyfriend hovering over her with a huge grin on his face, "What are you doing?"

"Do you not remember what I said in the car?" he leaned down and moved her hair away from her neck so he could begin to pay attention to the area with his mouth. "I wasn't lying when I said we were going to fuck."

Rachel slapped Finn on the back, "You are so crude."

"Like you're really complaining," Finn continued his assault on her neck, causing soft mews to come from Rachel as she tilted her head to the side to give him more access. As much as she may have reprimanded him for saying the word, she did find it really hot. And well, ever since the first time they had sex, the physical relationship between them had only increased. Rachel wasn't sure why she had been so afraid, it was _amazing _and it like released a little sex demon or something. Sure, the first couple times it had hurt a bit, but then eventually it was just... well, orgasmic.

"Finn," she moaned softly as his mouth began to trail lower, his hands slowly starting to unbutton her shirt, almost like he was trying to tease her on purpose. Well, knowing Finn that was _exactly _what he was doing and Rachel knew it. "No teasing," she pouted as she thrusted her hips forward as his hand came to rest on her thigh, "not fair."

"Oh, no fair you say?" he smirked playfully as he pushed her shirt back and brought his lips over her bra covered chest, "I'm pretty sure I said the very same thing earlier today and that didn't stop you from teasing me, now did it?"

"but but-"

Running his finger over her lips, "no buts." Finn trailed his mouth down her stomach until he got to her skirt. Pushing himself up, he hooked his fingers and pulled the offensive material off her body and threw it somewhere in the room. Licking his lips, Rachel watched Finn's gaze roam her body, "God, you're so beautiful." He slowly ran his finger tips over every piece of skin, eventually bringing his hands up to cup her chest.

"Oh god," she arched into his hold, "Please..."

"Please, what?" he smirked playfully.

"Touch me, eat me, fuck me!" she groaned, "Do something!"

"Ah ha! I knew I'd get you to say it." Finn pulled her panties down and off her legs before settling his head between them.

"Yes!" she hissed as she felt his tongue slide through her folds, "Don't stop.. please don't stop!" The feeling of him between her legs was something she loved so much, and she had to admit the scruff on his face added a nice sensation. "Oh... oh! Yes" she couldn't help but thrust her hips forward. Her legs basically locking her head in.

Finn brought his hands up to hold her down, pulling his head back just a little, "You like that?"

Rachel nodded vigorously, "Oh god yes, but please..."

"Please what?" he asked before diving back in.

"Just get inside me!"

Finn removed his head from between her legs and quickly began to discard his closed. Setting between her legs, he leaned in and kissed her hard on the mouth, "I love you." Slamming into her, they both groaned at the sensation and quickly began to pick up speed. "Fuck, you're so tight, baby."

"Finn... oh god," she moaned as she ran her nails down his back causing him to hiss.

It wasn't long until both of them were going over the edge and collapsing against the soft comforter. "So fucking good," he smirked as he pulled out of Rachel and laid down next to her. "Come here," he pulled her to his side and pressed a kiss to her head, "Mm, I am loving this trip already."

Giggling softly, Rachel pressed some kisses to his chest as they laid there, "You just love sex."

"Correction," he looked down at her with a huge smile, "I love sex with you."

Rachel went to open her mouth to say something, but was quickly interrupting to the sound of her cellphone beeping, "Who could that be?"

Finn groaned as he ran his hand over his head, "I hope it's not your dads or something."

Rolling her eyes, she reluctantly pulled out of his embrace and went to find her cellphone, "They wouldn't text me."

"Oh," Finn pushed himself onto his elbow and did the best to enjoy the view of his girlfriend bent over her suitcase.

"Stop checking out my behind," she giggled as she pulled her cell out of her bag and turned around to check it.

"No way," he laid back against the pillows, "I will check it out as much as I want."

Nodding her head, she sat down on the edge of the bed as she read over the text, "It's Quinn. She asked if you and I knew?"

"Knew what?" Finn raised his eyebrow.

Shrugging, she sent a reply text and waited for Quinn to get back to her. Which, they didn't have to wait long, "Apparently Puck showed up at her place and asked her to marry him." Rachel's eyes widened as she looked up to stare at her boyfriend, "Did you know about this?"

Finn shook his head, utterly shocked, "No- I... I knew he wanted to fix things with her and all that. I didn't know he was going to purpose. Wow."

"Wow indeed."

* * *

Licking the ice cream off his lips, he watched as his girlfriend swayed to the music in front of him. Her summery dress flowing around her. The news of Puck asking Quinn to marrying him had been kind of shocking, but he understood _why _Puck did it. Finn never expected to find real love in college – it was college, you were supposed to get drunk, have fun, and well fuck a lot of girls. However, instead Finn fell in love with Rachel and as scary as it could be, he didn't want to be with anyone. He knew all he could do was not be afraid. He knew that one day he'd ask her to marry him and they'd start a family together.

"Finn," Rachel's voice brought him out of his thoughts as she held her hand out for him to take, "Come on, lets take a walk."

Finishing off his ice cream cone, he stood up and wiped his face with a napkin. Taking her hand in his own, the two began to walk away from the ice cream stand and down the street, "having fun so far?"

"Tons," they hadn't done much yet, aside from getting food and walking around, oh and well getting some ice cream, but it had been great so far. "What about you?"

Coming to a halt, Finn pulled Rachel to him and kissed her softly, "I'm having a great time." Taking a deep breath, he brought his hand up to push some stray hair out of her face, "I've had some shitty luck with things over the last couple of years. Struggling in high school with my grades, a ex who treated me like shit, losing my football dreams, and yeah, college hasn't been that bad the last few years." He stroked her cheek softly, "You've made things so much better. I really do love you, Rach. And I am so glad we found each other."

Tears began to well in her eyes as she reached up to wipe them away, "I love you, too." She leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips, "I am so glad I met you, Finn. You just have this light about you and you make me so happy. I never thought I could feel like this... ever. I never want to feel like this with anyone else."

"Neither do I," he pressed a kiss to her forehead, "You've made me realize that I don't need to be afraid of things. That life can get better." Closing his eyes, he leaned his forehead against hers and smiled, "You are amazing, Rachel Berry."

"No," she shook her head, a soft giggle escaping her as she tried to fight back her tears, "You are the amazing one."

Leaning into each other, Finn and Rachel caught each others lips in a deep and passionate kiss. Not a care in the world but each other, and they knew that this was the beginning of forever for them.

* * *

Let me know what you think! xoxo.


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